Photoshop and Deceptive Advertising: An Analysis of Blog Comments

David S. Waller

doi:10.11114/smc.v3i1.841

Abstract

The advertising industry is often criticized for presenting unrealistic images of fashion and beauty which can have a negative influence on women and girls. In particular, a small number of advertisements for cosmetics have come under fire from advertising regulators in the UK and USA. This exploratory paper discusses two magazine advertisements for mascara which came to the attention of by the US regulatory authority (National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus) “for excessive photoshopping”, leading to both ads being withdrawn from future campaigns. Using content analysis, the paper will analyze bloggers’ comments about the decision to discover what were the main issues raised.

Highlights

Advertising and the media in general are regularly criticized for the way they portray women, use of young models, the continuing of stereotypes, demeaning women, being sexually suggestive, and depicting unrealistic body images
This exploratory paper discusses two magazine advertisements for mascara which came to the attention of by the US regulatory authority (National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus) “for excessive photoshopping”, leading to both ads being withdrawn from future campaigns
The reasons why advertisers promote these controversial images vary, and include to get the attention of potential customers, strategically obtain publicity, reinforce a specific brand image, and to sell their product, such as fashion, perfume and cosmetics (Waller 1999). These images can have a negative effect on women and girls as they compare and try to reach the unattainable standards set by the media

Summary

Introduction

Advertising and the media in general are regularly criticized for the way they portray women, use of young models, the continuing of stereotypes, demeaning women, being sexually suggestive, and depicting unrealistic body images. The reasons why advertisers promote these controversial images vary, and include to get the attention of potential customers, strategically obtain publicity, reinforce a specific brand image, and to sell their product, such as fashion, perfume and cosmetics (Waller 1999). These images can have a negative effect on women and girls as they compare and try to reach the unattainable standards set by the media. More recently with the development of advanced graphics editing programs like Photoshop, images can be changed, manipulated, and altered resulting in an image that may be unlike the original model, which increases the unrealistic standard set by some advertising images (Tiggemann et al 2013)

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