NO SALES TAX
In a new ad campaign, Debenhams, a British department store, has opted for a rather unconventional strategy: Not only have they chosen to feature swimsuit ads sans retouching -- they're featuring them right next to a version of the image as it would have run if they had photoshopped away the model's so-called imperfections.
Check out the two ads:
What's more, the company's also featuring a window display of the image marked-up per their standard photoshopping techniques -- so you can see exactly which parts of the body would have been altered in the making of the photoshopped ad.
It's pretty illuminating. Mark Woods, Debenham's creative director, explained the motivation behind the campaign:
"As a responsible retailer we want to help customers make the most of their beauty without bombarding them with unattainable body images. Our campaign is all about making women feel good about themselves - not eroding their self belief and esteem by using false comparisons. Not only does it make sense from a moral point of view, it ticks the economic boxes as well. Millions of pounds a year are spent by organisations retouching perfectly good images. As a rule we only airbrush minor things like pigmentation or stray hair and rely on the natural beauty of models to make our product look great. We are proud to bring the issue of re-touching into the main stream when the likes of Britney Spears and Madonna are using unairbrushed but over-lit images as a shock tactic."
Pretty awesome. Now, if only other retailers would follow suit!
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