In January of last year, CVS unveiled a campaign to create new standards for beauty ads in their stores—namely, phasing out airbrushing and other digital alterations. Part of that included the debut of the CVS Beauty Mark, a watermark placed on advertisements confirming to customers that the images weren’t digitally altered or retouched (which CVS defined as “changing or enhancing a person’s shape, size, proportion, skin or eye color, wrinkles or any other individual characteristics”). Additionally, the retailer also asked beauty brands sold there to adhere to these new standards by 2020. They doubled-down on this effort a few months later with their new ad campaign, “Beauty in Real Life,” for which the company cast a diverse group of real women from all over the U.S. for un-retouched print and video imagery.
While 2020 is still months away, brands have responded to CVS’s call—so much so that starting in February, 70 percent of the retailer’s beauty ads will now be unretouched. CVS announced this morning that brands including CoverGirl, Neutrogena, and Revlon will be updating their imagery to replace previous ads with those depicting their spokesmodels in all their un-retouched glory. We’re talking big names, too, like Neutrogena spokesperson Kerry Washington and Revlon spokespeople Ashley Graham and Gal Gadot.
The message is long overdue, according to CVS Chief Marketing Officer Norman de Greve, since Photoshopping is like “saying these beautiful women aren’t beautiful enough.” Plus, it fits seamlessly into CVS’ mission of prioritizing their customers’ health, because flawless, Photoshopped advertisements really do impact women’s health. “Being exposed to media images moves someone to internalize that as ideal,” says psychologist Rachel Rodgers, Ph.D. who studies the influence of media on body image. “Images are created with certain intent. The dangerous thing is that people process images automatically, and comparison is a part of that.” Conversely, realistic images of women, dark circles and freckles included, don’t have that effect on body image, and in fact make women feel more comfortable with themselves.
Still, it’s a tall order to ask the women in question to go in front of the camera without the insurance of Photoshop. “It’s just something I had to dive into and hope I liked the outcome,” chef and CoverGirl spokesperson Ayesha Curry tells Glamour. To complicate matters, she was just four months postpartum after the birth of her third child with husband Steph Curry. “I’m a new mom again,” says Curry, who had their son on set with her. “Having the pregnancy weight on, and my nursing schedule…getting through that was honestly a moment of strength for me.”
But she didn’t get worked too up about it, go on some draconian workout regimen, or cut sugar, dairy, gluten, legumes, meat, and alcohol from her diet. Instead, the night before the shoot, she did what we can probably all identify with: She went out for drinks. “The next morning, I was like ooh, was that the right decision? Can you see the whiskey sours in my eyes?” she recalls. But it’s her ability to do just that that fuels her enthusiasm for CoverGirl. “They don’t expect or need me to be ‘that girl’,” Curry says.
Eschewing digital alterations gives customers an advantage, too, since they can better tell just how much coverage a foundation offers or, say, how sheer a lip stain is. “The campaign mimics everyday life, since they make sure that the way the product looks [in the ad] is what you’re getting,” she says. “In this case, I’m wearing the exact product I have on now. It’s the Outlast All-Day Lip Color.” The color played a big role in the feeling of empowerment on-set for Curry, who’s close with her mom. “I always try to channel her look and style,” she says. “She’s always loved a bold lip and now, as a mom myself, I always reach for that.”
Seeing the advertisements now, Curry’s proud to be a part of CVS’ initiative. “It’s been an honor to pave the way,” Curry says. “You don’t know how powerful something’s going to be until you make the first leap.” And while the company is leading the way for brands, it’s also up to the brands themselves to follow through in the rest of their messaging beyond the beauty ads in the aisle of your local CVS to, say, TV spots and other advertising. (We’ve reached out to brands to confirm if they’ll continue rolling out these spots and will update accordingly. CoverGirl, for one, will only say that “Part of CoverGirl’s DNA is authenticity.”)
Take note, beauty retailers—and brands.
Related Stories:
–CVS’ New Photoshop-Free Beauty Ads Were Produced by Women
–CVS Will No Longer Photoshop Its Beauty Ads
–9 Celebrities Who Have Spoken Out About Being Ridiculously Photoshopped