Curious
Jen Wade sends along this Kelly Clarkson ad as a follow-up to the whole "they told her to lose weight" "no they didn't" debate. As La Wade points out, she looks awfully skinny in that ad. Wade asks, "could they have done some digital slimming?"
I'm sure they could, and I bet they did. I remember at my previous job, we did a Britney Spears ad, and let me tell you, that girl was airbrushed to within an inch of her life. They made her arms and stomach, in particular, much smaller than they were in real life. And remember Kate Winslet and Harper's Bazaar? She was angry to find that her cover photo had been airbrushed to make her appear thinner, and spoke out against it. (If I recall, that's the same magazine that refused to photograph Renee Zellweger because she was "too fat" in the Bridget Jones era.) So, yeah. That's disappointing.
I'm sure they could, and I bet they did. I remember at my previous job, we did a Britney Spears ad, and let me tell you, that girl was airbrushed to within an inch of her life. They made her arms and stomach, in particular, much smaller than they were in real life. And remember Kate Winslet and Harper's Bazaar? She was angry to find that her cover photo had been airbrushed to make her appear thinner, and spoke out against it. (If I recall, that's the same magazine that refused to photograph Renee Zellweger because she was "too fat" in the Bridget Jones era.) So, yeah. That's disappointing.
9 Comments:
I thought about not posting this comment because it will depress many. But it's true and it fits in here. I have a friend who, in 1995, had to Photoshop Cindy Crawford pix for a national magazine. I remember asking him "uh, Photoshop WHAT on Cindy Crawford, exactly?!?!" and him telling me "oh there's a lot. believe me. even on her."
I think it's especially interesting that this is an issue with Vitamin Water, for which I have a special hatred because its entire marketing premise is based on it being healthy, but it's really just sugar water. I mean, yes, it has a few vitamins thrown in, but less than you could get from a piece of actual fruit which has fewer calories and would actually do something to sate your appetite.
The digital manipulation of Ms. Clarkson's image seems perfectly consistent with the entire philosophy behind this product.
Oh yeah, absolutely. If I'm going to "spend" my calories on something, it isn't gonna be water with calories. I mean, come on!
But water's so boooooring! Why should I have to drink flavourless water when I can have sweet yummy tasty vitamin-enriched water??
*wink*
The only thing more ridiculous than vitamin water (in the beverage market) is the other brand, named "fitness water". Just so people think it magically makes you fitter.
I thought it was a common knowledge. For example, in fitness magazines they often stage photos where a bodybuilder is flexing with 350 pounds barbell. In reality, it is a balsa wood barbell weighting maybe 5 pounds.
It's funny you should post a link to this ad... I was in the drugstore the other day and this caught my eye - this is actually the back cover of Star magazine, but the store had put them in the racks backwards. I'm not sure if this was the intention of the publisher or just an advertiser's ploy, but I just had to pick it up because I thought it was really odd and freaky that the entire cover would be an ad for VitaminWater.
"I think it's especially interesting that this is an issue with Vitamin Water, for which I have a special hatred because its entire marketing premise is based on it being healthy, but it's really just sugar water."
Jen - nail. Hammer. Bang.
Can we, like, out them on that issue or something?
Hee. "You know, regular water has many uses. For instance, you could use it to help you TAKE A VITAMIN."
I realize that airbrushng and photoshopping are common practices for magazine photos. I just think it's a shame that there are so many people who look at these photos as an ideal....something for which to strive. An ideal that can never be met because it DOES NOT EXIST. It's all a creation. I can't even remember how many times as a young adult (and even as a "mature" adult) that I looked at a cover photo and felt totally hopeless about my own looks. And this is with the knowledge that there have been some enhancements made to the photo. I can't even imagine what it would do to the self image of a teen-age or college-age girl.
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