In December 2009, I posted a piece on the bizarre happenstance of an advertisement featuring model Twiggy having to be “taken down” for containing “inauthentic material” because the skin underneath her eyes had been airbrushed, or something like that. I expressed surprise, having always believed that all such advertisements were airbrushed fantasies, and had thought that all skin-care punters knew that. Now, it has happened all over again, this time involving an advertisement for L’Oreal ® face cream and involving actress Rachel Weisz. Once again, I am gobsmacked.
Surely, surely, there is nobody alive who believes that a film of manufactured face moisturiser will lend the glow of a top model or actress to the average miss? What is so wrong with a manufacturer ‘making creams in the factory, selling dreams in the stores’? Now, the row over ‘body-image’ advertisements looks set to go political with Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson about to begin a campaign for ‘body confidence’.
Well, lawksamussy and shiver my timbers!
For an MP or anybody else wanting to instil a dash of body confidence into youth, surely there is no better place to begin than nudging the darlings in the direction of cosmeticians and body image merchants – what is grubby skin, unkempt hair and sloppy clothing going to do for their confidence? Look at everything else we do - they have educational toys stuffed down their throats in tandem with the vitamins. We probe them for PhD qualities while they are still in nappies. We spend years bombarding them with aspirations. We all but shed blood in an effort to get them into the ‘right’ schools. When all is said and done, surely it is worth expending a little cosmetic gilding on these extraordinary academic lilies?
Interestingly, L’Oreal is the same firm that has for its strap-line the much lampooned and misunderstood “because I’m worth it.” Yes, they are worth it – a rich gift deserves a handsome wrapping, I always say.
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