Truth in Advertising: Airbrushing is BS

Model      Via Betty Confidential.

According to the Telegraph ,  the Liberal Democrats Party, which supports many women's issues, is trying to go for a little more truth in advertising. Their goal is to either  ban airbrushed advertisements in magazines or have airbrushed magazine advertisements come with a "warning label" saying that the ads are airbrushed.

Maybe the label could read: It is humanly impossible for anyone to look this good naturally. 

Talk about a female agenda. The idea for the campaign is based on the fact that  women have to face up to unrealistic expectations. If we don't feel bad enough our bodies as they are compared to a super-model, how can we feel good about ourselves compared to a super-model who has been so photo-shopped she would be unrecognizable to herself in the mirror? Photoshopping has become a sort of art-form in the industry, but to the teens many of the ads are targeted towards, it is a call for low-esteem, eating disorders, and way too much make-up.

The campaign is also calling for a truth in cosmetic surgery ads-they want the ads to include success rates.

Truth in airbrushing would never fly in the good old US of A where plastic surgery is like a second skin, pun definitely intended. Consider the latest controversy in the US with SELF magazine airbrushing Kelly Clarkston on their cover. According to this site, the editor said that because SELF is a fitness magazine, the editorial staff made an executive decision for the cover and airbrushed her, making her appear 10-15 pounds lighter. Instant diet? It is nice to know that were I ever photographed for a magazine, I could be made to look maybe ten years younger, 20 pounds lighter, and that my sunspots, wrinkles, etc. would magically disappear. What's not nice to know is that the only thing I could realistically do for myself to look so good would involve exercise and lots of plastic surgery.

The irony, of course, is that that fitness magazine is selling a load of crap.  You, too, can look like our "athletic models", but of course, it might be necessary for us to airbrush your entire body because how you look will NEVER be good enough. So, cheers to the Brits for taking a step that I believe would never be possible in the United States. 

Take a look at some fine examples of airbrushing here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNB6YS3OX4M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfYwe93FZq0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2gD80jv5ZQ