Vivian Englund – Copy Editor
Lingerie advertisements are infamous for donning the same redundant, retouched supermodel. Aerie, American Eagle’s lingerie store, is breaking ground with their new #AerieREAL campaign.
The spring 2014 ad campaign is still going strong as the year comes to a close. All of the company’s ads feature models of all shapes and sizes without any retouching.
Aerie said the goal behind this campaign is to challenge the typical model beauty standards and have un-Photoshopped models wear their latest bra, underwear and apparel collections.
Though this movement is not unheard of, aerie is one of the first companies to completely ace the excessive use of photo editing. Magazines especially are constantly under fire about the abuse of Photoshop. Magazine covers and advertisements are constantly being pulled because of this.
Exhibit A: L’Oreal is infamous for retouching photos to great lengths. In 2013, L’Oreal permanently discontinued an entire ad campaign. They pulled the ads after a competitor claimed that the over-editing was misleading and enhanced the effects of their mascara.
This generally differs from the Photoshop blunders that lingerie companies generally fall into, yet the same message is still conveyed. The exaggeration or artificial enhancement of beauty ideals and standards remains the same.
As of 2011, the National Advertising Division (NAD) began regulating and banning Photoshopped ads. The majority of ads that NAD pulls are undoubtedly directly linked to the fashion and cosmetic industry.
Often times retouching means, the removal of tattoos, stretch marks, acne, body fat, amongst many others.
In the initial ad campaign, aerie released a series of ads stating their motives.
“Dear aerie girls,” said the ad, “We think it’s time for a change. We think it’s time to GET REAL and THINK REAL. We want every girl to feel good about who they are and what they look like, inside and out. This means no more retouching our girls and no more supermodels. Why? Because there is no reason to retouch beauty. We think the real you is sexy.”
The message aerie is sending is one that could greatly impact their industry. Teaching women that the real versions of themselves are just as beautiful as the supermodels that they see on a daily basis has the potential to change the way they feel about themselves.
The carefully chosen words, “GET REAL,” and “THINK REAL” set out to remind their audience that retouching photos sets an unrealistic example of beauty. These words are a powerful take on the faults in today’s ads.
As mentioned before, some magazines have ditched the Photoshop for some issues, but never permanently.
Marie Claire left the retouching behind in 2010 for their Jessica Simpson shoot, and it was a success.
However, some magazines are not catching on to the trend, and are airbrushing photos to the extreme.
Kim Kardashian’s notorious spread for Paper magazine last month has caused a lot of buzz with the amount of editing was used.
It seems as though there is a huge gap when it comes to retouching. However, it is important to be realistic when companies are making these decisions.
Photo Credit: Joe Shlabotnik
