Photoshopping in Advertisements

Have you ever looked at a magazine or an advertisement on TV and thought, “I wish I looked like her!” or “I wish I had that much muscle”? Would you be surprised to find out those models, actors, or celebrities don’t actually look like that? It seems a lot of companies have made a deceiving new best friend, Photoshop. Photoshop is making models look “perfect”, and causing self-esteem problems for many men, women and children, and making most advertisements seem more effective or better than they are. The extent to which Photoshop is used needs to be strongly limited.

Photoshop is making people believe that the unachievable, the impossible is reality. This impossible achievement seems real when companies Photoshop pictures to perfection: the artificial beauty standard. This beauty standard is no longer reality once a descent or pretty picture is taken and they start changing a models weight, or wrinkles, or even how long their legs look.  They are changing these pictures so drastically that it is impossible to actually look like that, because now the model themselves doesn’t look like that. These models are reshaped and retouched to a company’s definition of perfect. Not only is it not reality, but it affects the younger men and women, who are the easily influenced the greatest amount.  It makes them feel like they need to look like that or should be like that, when it is simply not possible.

Now with all these perfect people in advertisements and commercials, it can have  a negative effect on the self-esteem of men, women, and kids. Ever since Photoshopping became popular, more people than even  have turned to diet pills, cosmetic surgery, steroids, and Botox to get their own “perfect” body. It has even made some develop eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia. They see these ads of small waists and large muscles, that are fake and Photoshopped. That’s making people unhappy and self conscious with their own body image, so unhappy that some people took action and tried to look like these models.

Lastly, not only is Photoshopping bad for the self-esteem of men and women but it’s simply just bad advertisement; Photoshopping ads is misleading. Photoshop in ads give the possibility of making skinny girls skinnier, and products look more effective than they actually are. Celebrities are well known for having pictures Photoshopped. Kelly Clarkson has repeatedly claimed that she is happy with her body, and couldn’t be more comfortable, but yet when she appeared on the cover of “Self” magazine she seemed to appear at least 15 pounds smaller. The editors of “Self” even admitted to try and Photoshop Kelly Clarkson to look like her “best self” for the cover.It’s difficult to believe anyone’s “best self” is a fake representation of herself. They’ll cover the magazine with “her body confidence!” and quote Kelly talking about her own real body confidence, but they refuse to show us her actual body. Companies fix body images more than you would ever believe. Recently, in March of 2014, the store “Target” was caught with a photoshopping flaw in one of their swimsuit campaigns on their website.. They had took the model and increased her “thigh gap”, making clearly visible by not fixing the swimsuits position, therefore it looked like she was missing a chunk of her body. The model’s waist was made smaller along with her side, but left her arm where it was, causing that photoshop also clearly visible. After later assessing the model seemed to appear missing part of her ribcage too. Target’s failure to finish this photoshop job caused many to wonder about all of their other advertisements. Target quickly apologized and took down the photos after the harsh comments, but if they had finished that photoshopping job, would we even know?

Editors seem to have a problem realizing that flaws are real. The singer/performer Lorde,  tweeted that she doesn’t agree with fixing her flaws and getting rid of acne through Photoshop. “[I] find this curious - two photos from today, one edited so my skin is perfect and one is real. [R]emember flaws are ok[ay.]” Lorde wants people to know that she isn't perfect, because flaws do exist, we shouldn't try to hide them, but instead embrace them.

Photoshopping is negatively affecting men, women,and children around the world. It’s causing an illusion of reality, and hurting the self-esteem of men and women. It’s making products seem more effective, and people more attractive. The extent to which photoshopped  is used needs to be limited,that way people can have the ability to know what they are looking at isn't reality, or that its been modified.

Works Cited
Hicks, Sabrina, and Mary Kate Lenseth. "Photoshop in the Media." Word Press. Automattic Joint, 3 May 2011. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .
Kite, Lexie, and Lindsay Kite. "Photoshopping:Altering Images and Our Minds." Beauty Redefined. Kite Media, 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 7 Apr. 2014. .
Rich, Katie. "Don’t Photoshop Lorde’s Acne, Says Lorde." Vanity Fair. CONDÉ NAST DIGITAL, 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. .
Swinson, Jo. "False Beauty in Advertising and the Pressure to Look 'good.'" CNN. Cable News Network, 10 Aug. 2011. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. .