Brands Face Pressure to Quit Retouching Models’ Bodies

Brands are under mounting pressure to stop digitally manipulating the images of models used in their advertising in a bid to promote body positivity. 77 U.K. politicians from across the spectrum have signed an open letter calling on businesses to stop creating a “warped sense of reality” by touching up promotional photos. Skims and Vanity Fair are just some of brands that have recently been accused of misleading audiences through digital post-production techniques. Now, to mark the U.K.'s Mental Health Awareness Week (May 9–15), the cross-party cohort of Members of Parliament (MP) wants to see brands sign the “Body Image Pledge” campaign, which was founded by the YMCA with support from Unilever-owned Dove in 2014. In signing up, businesses must promise to represent people as they are in real life, with alterations limited to technical corrections, such as fixing lighting or erasing stray hairs. Dove, PureGym and Boots are among those already committed to the initiative, which also asks advertisers to promote health, wellbeing and diversity in their communications and on social media. Conservative MP Dr. Luke Evans, also a practicing medical doctor, is spearheading the call to action. “It’s important to recognize that digitally 'fixing' body shapes to fit someone else’s ideal has become normalized, creating a warped sense of reality, to the point that it is damaging the mental health of children and adults,” he said. “MPs from 7 different parties—covering every end of the political spectrum—have supported my call for organizations to commit to not digitally manipulate a person's body proportions in any direct imagery. Such wide-ranging support shows how important an issue this is," he added. A body image problem This call to action comes against the backdrop of research which has illuminated a growing body image problem across all corners of society. According to Girlguiding, 40% of girls aged 11 to 16 and 50% of girls 17 to 21 said they’d seen images online in the last year that made them feel insecure or less confident about themselves. Last year it emerged that Facebook had hidden internal data suggesting Instagram worsens body image issues for teenage girls, too. Elsewhere, a recent study by suicide prevention charity Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) and Instagram found 48% of U.K. men aged 16 to 40 had struggled because of how they feel about their body. Most said this was exacerbated by images on social media. In a society where Photoshop is unflinchingly used as a common verb, advertisers and the influencers they work with are increasingly coming under the microscope for editing their imagery. This is an issue that crosses borders. In 2021, U.K. regulator the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned social media influencers from using “misleading” filters when advertising beauty products. In the same year, a law in Norway was introduced which requires influencers to declare when photos have been edited. France was even earlier out of the gate when in 2017 it enforced legislation requiring brands to attach a notice to images that have been retouched. Though U.K. MPs are encouraging brands to sign the “Body Image Pledge,” the government rejected a proposal like France’s last year that would have made it compulsory for individuals and organizations to declare altered images. The companies taking a stand In line with the ASA’s filter ban, Ogilvy’s U.K. agency network has now banned staff from hiring influencers who digitally manipulate their faces or bodies for brand campaigns. Teams are consulting brands and influencers on the new policy now, with a December deadline to end the practice entirely. Dove, which is a founding partner of the “Body Image Pledge," has done a lot of work to dismantle unrealistic beauty standards and body images across social media. Last year, it worked with Grammy-award winning artist Lizzo for a global campaign titled “The Selfie Talk,” which aimed to make social media a more positive and empowering place for young women. In April, the skin care giant used deepfake technology to expose social media’s toxic influence on young women in a shocking case study. P&G’s Olay has also quit retouching its images, along with retailers ASOS and Modcloth. Dove's Disturbing Deepfakes Expose Social Media's Toxic Influence on Teen Girls