Twiggy Gets Majorly Photoshopped in Olay Ad
December 17, 2009 in Beauty & Body Image, Celebrity Quotes, Photoshop Job, Then and Now by Versus
60 year-old model Twiggy was heavily airbrushed in Procter & Gamble’s Olay ad, so much that this image was banned in UK. The most dramatic difference can be seen around the eye area – we could believe the product, whose slogan is “Reduces the look of wrinkles and dark circles for brighter, younger-looking eyes.” or we could blame it on Photoshop. Let’s hear the whole story from Salon:
When people talk about unrealistic beauty standards and the media’s effect on women’s body image, it’s usually not long before Twiggy’s name comes up, even 43 years after the ultrathin model first made a splash — and for that matter, more than 15 years since Kate Moss famously reinvigorated the “waif look” and wrought “heroin chic” upon the world. Even if today’s girls have only heard about Twiggy from their grandmas, their self-esteem is still thought to be warped by the legacy of her 91-lb., 16-year-old body. And now, the 60-year-old model is being blamed for making their grandmas feel just as bad.
More precisely, Procter and Gamble is being blamed for Photoshopping the hell out of her face in an advertisement for an Olay eye cream, erasing crows’ feet and under-eye bags with the flick of a mouse rather than diligent long-term application of the cream in question. The U.K.’s Advertising Standards Authority has banned the ad, on grounds that “the post-production re-touching of this ad, specifically in the eye area, could give consumers a misleading impression of the effect the product could achieve.” But interestingly, the ASA rejected the idea that such images might harm women, beyond fleecing them out of a few bucks.
“We considered that consumers were likely to expect a degree of glamour in images for beauty products and would therefore expect Twiggy to have been professionally styled and made-up for the photo shoot, and to have been photographed professionally,” it said. “We concluded that, in the context of an ad that featured a mature model likely to appeal to women of an older age group, the image was unlikely to have a negative impact on perceptions of body image among the target audience and was not socially irresponsible.” (Not surprisingly, that’s pretty much what Procter and Gamble is saying as well.) But actually, says Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson, who’s launched a campaign against out-of-control retouching, “Experts have already proved that airbrushing contributes to a host of problems in women and young girls such as depression and eating disorders.”
In November, leading authorities on body image sent a paper to U.K. advertising authorities (available as a Word document here) outlining the relevant research. Over 100 published studies have documented “a detrimental effect of idealised media images” on girls and women — and increasingly, boys and men.
Do you guys think that such Photoshop jobs are irresponsible and might have repercussions on women’s body image or are they harmless, because women expect “that photoshopped dosage of glamor”?
i think this majorly exceeds “the photoshopped dosage of glamor”. she looks 20 -30 years younger. that’s not possible
I don’t think it’s irresponsible. They are trying to sell a product that is meant to give beautiful skin, and showing women with beautiful skin is the way to do that. Nobody would buy a product where a “before” and “after” photo look the same.
However, I think it’s STUPID of them to use Twiggy as their model. Her wrinkling is bad enough to be surgically irreparable. No cream could fix that. They should have used a slightly younger model without such extreme wrinkling to showcase their product. Then they wouldn’t need to drastically alter the model’s image, and the product’s effectiveness would be more believable.
To be honest, her un-photoshopped look is better to me? She has so much character in her face. I don’t even recognize her photoshopped look…
I agree with you
To be honest, I like her un-photoshopped look better. I can’t even recognize her….
good for the ASA!
there is a certain degree of responsibility that advertising companies need to take and if they can’t restrict the use of photoshopping that is done to their photos they need to be held accountable.
I believe that people will look at a photo and based on that single image they will purchase a product in hopes to achieve that look.
If they did this in the US, I don’t think there would be any advertising left! But I loved those Elle covers sans makeup, so I would definitely embrace less photoshop in advertising!
Photoshop is terrible for womens’ self-esteem. These pictures don’t even look human anymore. I was looking at some vintage playboy models and they looked so beautiful and real. I wish we could go back to the natural look someday.
I missed most of this article and zoned in on:
““Experts have already proved that airbrushing contributes to a host of problems in women and young girls such as depression and eating disorders.””
People are constantly insisting that celebrities, the media, Photoshopped images, unrealistic expectations – etc, cause eating disorders. I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me — I can promise that I did not open up a Glamor magazine one day, see a picture of Kim Kardashian and decide it would be super fun to get an eating disorder.
Even if the media disappeared, every drop dead gorgeous celebrity fell off the face of the Earth and manipulating photos were outlawed, I would still have an eating disorder.
Granted, my experience isn’t applicable to every, or even any other, person with an ed, but I always cringe when I see comments like that made.
most, no, actually all, women with ED’s that i’ve personally met have been more or less the “typical” over achiever good girls that have either wanted to control their body, see how “good” they can be at not eating, or punished themselves. Rarely has vanity had much to do with it. But then there are all those models etc, so i guess ED can be caused just from wanting to be skinny and “glamorous” too..
written down like that my text seems kind of unrespectful towards those w/ an ED, which it isn’t meant to be in any way, just wanted to add that.
i’ve always wondered about this actually. what of women who had eating disorders before photoshop? before celebrities? before the media? what is their reasoning for those cases??
i’m glad you pointed this out.
yes a skinny picture of some model might “trigger” a disorder but it isn’t the sole cause of one i don’t think. if someone has an eating disorder, its probably because she was already inclined towards one. that’s not usually a natural response when somebody sees a magazine. and those who may try to starve to lose weight, they usually only last a week or so before returning to their usual habits. not years and years of obsession.
i’ve heard it”s actually about control (correct me if i’m mistaken?)
what would you say did cause it? sorry if i’m prying. i’m just curious.
I think you make a very valid point, and I wish you well with your own health. Unfortunately, many people like to tie up psychological and psychiatric issues into neat little “pop psych” packages. As a psychologist in training…it makes me cringe!
There are varying theoretical frameworks for understanding eating disorders. As a former neuroscientist, I am personally big on examining the ways genetics, biology, and culture influence one another.
One of the things that I think is most unfortunate is that we often trivialize people’s EDs when we flippantly call people “ana” or “bulemic.”
However, I will say that it is interesting to note how the internet has given a forum for people to support one another in unhealthy thinking and behavior, such as pro-ana sites.
I have a lot of compassion for those living in this celebrity-soaked media world who are living with ED. The thin obsession hasn’t “caused” their ED, but it certainly doesn’t help their recovery.
She’s looking maybe a bit too smooth, it’s when the photoshopping is so believable you don’t realize how much the pic has been altered when it’s harming IMO. And i think there’s a lot of that going on, esp. older women looking their age but still amazingly fresh and gorgeous and then you get a look of the before pic and they look just like any of us. But idk, an ad is an ad, all (should) know they’re not exactly realistic.
I’m sure photoshop is terrible for anyone’s self esteem! even the most confident of people! I photoshopped my face once, and after seeing them side to side I felt AWFUL!
This should remind people NEVER to buy a cosmetic product without actual advice from a human being they know and trust, or at least a random double blind test done by an independent party… (I suggest makeupalley.com it’s a website where people post their own reviews of cosmetics and make-up, and grade them) but most of all by reading the ingredients list, and trying to find out % of the active ingredients.
Being a biochemist I often end up rolling my eyes at commercials. The so called “magic” ingredients are either marketing bla bla (and here shampoos are the most ridiculous) or simply unproven to work. If they do work (take retin a for example) the creams almost NEVER write down % of the substance in the final product, which I find appauling. And you know why they don’t write that down?
OFTEN, an active ingredient is in minimal to useless percentages!
Of course, because otherwise it would be waaaay too expensive.
Personally, I only buy the cheapest cosmetics which DO NOT contain harmful ingredients (parabens, skin irritants, potential carcinogens, skin clogging agents). It’s been proven that the MAJOR 4 elements of beautiful skin is: little sun exposure, good genetics, hydration, and a good diet.
You can’t choose genetics.
I hope NOBODY here tans, cancer aside, people who tan age HORRIBLY.
Hydration – people with greasy skin rejoice, you will age a lot slower. The others – wear a good skin cream that doesn’t clog your pores during the day, and a fatty one at night.
Good diet – all those stupid “diets” some girls do, they almost always provoke defficiencies. It seems like it has no consequences, but you’ll see it in 10-20 times.
The rest? Marketing bullshit. All the skincare in the world can’t affect a skin that’s already aged. Prevention is the only thing you can do.
Thank you!
All these products are nonsense. If these creams really worked then there wouldn’t be an older lady alive with any wrinkles! People are better off using natural cheap products. I use gylcerin and rosewater on my skin and it works like a dream. Olive oil, coconut oil, aloe vera gel etc are good as well.
Wrinkles are UNAVOIDABLE!! It’s a part of growing old so we better get used to it. A reasonable healthy lifestyle will ensure that you look good in your old age.
I also find it odd that they choose to ban this advert when there are countless other commercials etc that could be criticised as being detrimental to women as well. I sure do hope that women aren’t silly enough to find inspiration in these commercials, models etc. This industry isn’t here for your self esteem; it’s here to take your money! Take everything with a pinch of salt!
Well, i personally know photoshop when i see it so it does not affect me. But talking to people who are not interested in this field, i had the surprise that some believed that the candid pictures, with wrinkles and all were the phototshoped one, to make celebrities look bad, the argument being “you see them in magazines and movies and they look so perfect, it is clear that they just want to alter that image”. So, yes, maybe they should just drop down a bit? Of course, not give up, it is needed to some extenct, but that is retouching, not completely changing ones body, face, taking off 30 lbs, 30 years or erasing bones. This year, since we’re close to its end, we have been given some images photoshoped beyond any reason, and pretended to be the real deal (see the famous body switch for Demi Moore ). The industry is as hypocrite as it gets, so all these speaches on how women know and so on, fake. They want women to feel bad about themselves. Period
PROCTOR AND GAMBLE PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN TESTED ON ANIMALS. Oil of Olay is a P&G brand!