Watchdog BAN Over-Airbrushed Julia Roberts New Lancome Advert

Julia Robert’s digitally enhanced L’Oreal advert has been banned in the UK, as Watchdog has deemed it unacceptable and misleading.

Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson first expressed potential problems with the ad, claming it had been heavily airbrushed and did not convey the ‘real’ effects the product could achieve.

L’Oreal who also own Lancome and maybelline said, Julia Roberts commercial promoting ‘Lancome’s Teint Miracle Foundation’ had been retouched but they did not feel these were ‘characteristics directly relevant to the performance of the product’.

Adding to the debate was that the photograph for the campaign had been shot by the infamous photographer Mario Testino, with strong light usage to disguise any flaws the skin might show.

L’Oreal also spoke about another advert that has been targeted, the second was for Maybelline’s ‘The Eraser Foundation’, they admitted it had been digitally retouched ”to lighten the skin, clean up make-up, reduce dark shadows and shading around the eyes, smooth the lips and darken the eyebrows’.

L’Oreal argued both cases that the ads for the products intended to cover any flaws, which the ASA company dealing with the case took into account.

Watchdog in conjunction with both ads however, stated that there was insignificant amount of evidence given about the post-production techniques to establish with certainty if the adverts for Lancome and maybelline showed any genuine effects the products could achieve.

The ASA claim both adverts breached misleading advertising and exaggeration of it’s benefits.