Julia Roberts wasn't beautiful enough: Star among celebs whose ads were banned over airbrushing

Because Julia Roberts wasn't beautiful enough: Star among celebs whose ads were banned over airbrushing

By Sean Poulter

Last updated at 12:10 AM on 27th July 2011


They were hired for their beauty. But it seems that Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington weren’t quite beautiful enough for L’Oreal.

Pictures of them were digitally altered to make their skin appear even more flawless in advertisements for the beauty firm.

Both ads have been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority after complaints that they were misleading.

Too perfect: The Advertising Standards Agency banned this Lancombe advert of actress Julia Roberts after complaints it was misleading

The complaints were brought by Lib-Dem MP Jo Swinson, who argued that airbrushing creates a false impression of beauty.

She claims the results put pressure on women and young girls who compare themselves unfavourably to the unrealistic images.

The Julia Roberts ad showed the actress in a two-page magazine spread for Teint Miracle foundation by Lancôme, one of L’Oreal’s make-up brands.

The ad claimed the foundation ‘recreates the aura of perfect skin’.

The brand claimed the product was the result of 10 years of research and suggested the science was the subject of seven patent applications.

The actress was reportedly paid around £15million to be the face of the Lancome brand. However, she is, perhaps, an unlikely ambassador for the company.

Too good to be true: This Maybelline advert starring Christy Turlington was one of the adverts banned over its use of the airbrush

Last year, the 43-year-old star and mother of three condemned the obsession with beauty and youth as ‘shallow’.

L’Oreal admitted that certain ‘post production’ techniques had been used on the image of the actress. But it insisted the picture was an accurate representation of her ‘naturally healthy and glowing skin’.

L’Oreal was also in the dock over its image of Christy Turlington in a magazine ad for The Eraser foundation, from its Maybelline brand.

Parts of her face had been apparently been covered with the foundation while other areas were left natural to show the effects of the product.

The text claimed the product: ‘Conceals instantly, visibly, precisely ... Covers dark circles and fine lines to help conceal crow's feet - as if erased!’

Complaints: Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson contacted the Advertising watchdog because she believes airbrushed adverts give a false impression of beauty

Additional text described the product as ‘The New Anti-Aging Foundation’. Small print along the bottom admitted the image was an ‘Illustrated effect’.

L’Oreal said the image had been digitally re-touched to ‘lighten the skin, clean up make-up, reduce dark shadows and shading around the eyes, smooth the lips and darken the eyebrows’.

However, again, it insisted that the image was an accurate reflection of the benefits of the product.

The ASA was not convinced, ruling the images could not be used again in their current form.

On the Julia Roberts picture, it said: ‘On the basis of the evidence we had received we could not conclude that the ad image accurately illustrated what effect the product could achieve, and that the image had not been exaggerated by digital post production techniques.’

It said the airbrushing on the Maybelline advertisement was also likely to mislead.

This is not the first time a beauty company has come under fire over faking images. An advertisement for an Olay anti-aging product featuring Twiggy was banned in 2009.

Jo Swinson and the equalities minister Lynne Featherstone have set up the Campaign for Body Confidence and have called on advertisers to be honest about their use of airbrushing.

She welcomed the ban, saying: ‘This ruling demonstrates that the advertising regulator is acknowledging the dishonest and misleading nature of excessive retouching.

‘Pictures of flawless skin and super-slim bodies are all around, but they don’t reflect reality.

‘With one in four people feeling depressed about their body, it’s time to consider how these idealised images are distorting our idea of beauty.


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