L’Oreal Just Won’t Learn – ASA Slams Yet Another Ad for ‘Unrealistic Retouching’

Oh L’Oreal, when will you learn that airbrushing the bejesus out of your mature models to advertise anti-wrinkle products just ain’t right?

L’Oreal Paris Ad Featuring Rachel Weisz Slammed For ‘Unrealistic Retouching’
L’Oreal Paris Ad Featuring Rachel Weisz Slammed For ‘Unrealistic Retouching’

Oh L’Oreal, when will you learn that airbrushing the bejesus out of your mature models to advertise anti-wrinkle products just ain’t right?

Last year, Talent Management reported that two other heavily airbrushed L’Oréal ads were axed – Christy Turlington for Maybelline and Julia Roberts for Lancôme – leading us to think that French giant might have learnt its lesson by now.

But no, if L’Oreal thought we were stupid enough to believe that it is Maybelline’s ‘instant anti-age’ makeup erasing Christy Turlington’s fine lines and crows feet and not the little magic airbrushing tool on Photoshop, then it seems standard that they’re give it another go.

This time around they’ve been over zealous with a 41-year-old Rachel Weisz’ face in an ad for L’Oreal Paris’ Revitalist Repair 10, which makes the bold claim to target the 10 signs of aging – not that we even new there were 10 in the first place.

If you ever catch a glimpse of Weisz’ natural face, lovely that it is, you’ll see she has the standard lines of a woman in her 40s – quite a world away from Weisz’s complexion seen above; wrinkle-free, flawless and as peachy as a 20 year old.

Thankfully, British politician and Campaign for Body Confidence co-founder Jo Swinson headed up a complaint to the ASA which resulted in the ad being cut.

According to the Telegraph, a rep from the ASA said: “Although we considered that the image in the ad did not misrepresent the luminosity or wrinkling of Rachel Weisz’s face, we considered that the image had been altered in a way that substantially changed her complexion to make it appear smoother and more even.”

They made the sensible conclusion that the supposed result you could get from the cream was exaggerated, and therefore misleading.

While we’re happy to see L’Oreal use a more mature model to front their products, Talent Management is also pleased to see that the UK is taking action on the rampant practice of excessive post-production manipulation.

What do you think? Were the ASA right to ban the ad?