[Infowarrior] - Ralph Lauren, meet Streissand Effect

[Richard Forno]

Image of ultra-thin Ralph Lauren model sparks outrage

	• by Brett Michael Dykes, 17 hours ago

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/fallbeauty/image-of-ultra-thin-ralph-lauren-model-sparks-outrage-521480/
			
In recent years an ongoing debate has brewed over advertisers and  
fashion magazines using photographs, particularly photographs of  
women, that have seemingly been altered, or "retouched," by  
airbrushing and photo editing software such as Photoshop. The latest  
such image to cause an uproar is one featured in a new Ralph Lauren  
advertisement that shows a model, Filippa Hamilton, so emaciated that  
her waist actually appears to be smaller than her head.

On September 29th, Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin posted the ad, which  
originally appeared on a blog dedicated to pointing out suspected  
retouched images called Photoshop Disasters, with the comment, "Dude,  
her head's bigger than her pelvis." Ralph Lauren responded by filing a  
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint against Boing Boing  
and Photoshop Disasters, claiming that their use of the image was a  
copyright infringement that fell outside of the Fair Use laws which  
allow the media to reproduce creative content for the purposes of  
commentary and criticism.

The Internet service provider hosting Photoshop Disasters (Google  
Blogspot) deleted the post containing the image, while Boing Boing's  
(Canada's Priority Colo.) did not. In response, Boing Boing editor  
Cory Doctorow issued a stern warning to Ralph Lauren yesterday on the  
website, saying that the company's attempt to silence their criticism  
has only inspired them to step up their efforts in the future:

"Copyright law doesn't give you the right to threaten your critics for  
pointing out the problems with your offerings. You should know better.  
And every time you threaten to sue us over stuff like this, we will:
a) Reproduce the original criticism, making damned sure that all our  
readers get a good, long look at it, and;

b) Publish your spurious legal threat along with copious mockery, so  
that it becomes highly ranked in search engines where other people you  
threaten can find it and take heart; and

c) Offer nourishing soup and sandwiches to your models."

The U.S. isn't the only place where advertisers are feeling the public  
backlash over retouching claims. Overseas, a recent Olay ad featuring  
a virtually wrinkle-free 59-year-old Twiggy caused such an uproar in  
the UK that the British Parliament recently proposed outlawing  
retouching in advertisements aimed at teenagers. The movement was  
initiated by the nation's Liberal Democrats, whose leader on the  
issue, Jo Swinson, said:

"Today's unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls  
are under more pressure now than they were even five years ago.  
Airbrushing means that adverts contain completely unattainable images  
that no one can live up to in real life. We need to help protect  
children from these pressures and we need to make a start by banning  
airbrushing in adverts aimed at them. The focus on women's appearance  
has got out of hand - no one really has perfect skin, perfect hair and  
a perfect figure, but women and young girls increasingly feel that  
nothing less than thin and perfect will do."

In the U.S., many retouched images featuring celebrities have been the  
subject of recent scorn, including a L'Oreal ad that lightened  
Beyonce's skin, an image of Jessica Alba airbrushed to feature a  
slimmer waist in a Campari ad, and an ad for London Fog featuring  
Gisele Bunchen in which her "baby bump" was removed.

In response to the growing concern over retouching, a website called  
About-Face, whose stated mission is to arm "women and girls with tools  
to understand and resist harmful media messages that affect their self- 
esteem and body image," has sprung up. The site features a "Gallery of  
Offenders" as well as a "Gallery of Winners" to highlight who the  
site's editors feel are the advertising industry's best and worst in  
regards to improving and harming the image of the modern woman. Site  
visitors can also contribute money to help offset its operating costs  
as well as expand programs designed to educate young women on beauty  
and self-image.

Another website to garner attention for its dedication to exposing  
photo retouching offenses is Jezebel.com. Speaking on the subject of  
retouching, Jezebel editor-in-chief Anna Holmes told Yahoo!, "I don't  
see any point in retouching anymore ... The cat's out of the bag." She  
added, "I think Americans in particular are sick of having the wool  
pulled over their eyes ... even if it's regarding fashion models and  
actresses. The more they do this sort of retouching -- and then try to  
justify it, as the editor of SELF magazine recently did -- the less  
anyone believes anything else they have to say, or show. They are, in  
a sense, digging their own (shallow) graves."

Whether or not Holmes is right about the digging of "shallow graves"  
remains to be seen, but companies like Ralph Lauren certainly don't  
appear to be helping their cause by attempting to silence their  
critics, as doing so has only increased the amount of negative  
attention to their already controversial ad.