The French Parliament have just tabled a bill that would require a “photo retouched” label on every improved picture that appears in advertising, the media or product-wrapping, with a hefty €37,500 fine for anyone failing to do so. This would make France the first country to impose health-warnings on all published photographs that have been retouched.
While unlikely that a bill like this will make it to legislation, as policing it would be impossible, it does put a spotlight on the the fat, wrinkly elephant in the room, beautifully illustrated by images of Andie Macdowell (51), Liz Hurley (44), Linda Evangelista (44), Claudia Schiffer (39) and Penelope Cruz (35).
These are all beautiful women in their own right who don’t need to be airbrushed into Manga Cartoons of themselves to prove a point. The beauty industry has always been about selling artifice, you might as well complain about them using young/pretty/thin models in the campaigns for all the use it would do. It is consumers voting with their wallets, not government intervention, that will quash this trend. If you don’t like the advertising don’t buy the product.