Photoshop and Deceptive Advertising: An Analysis of Blog Comments

Abstract

The advertising industry is often criticized for presenting unrealistic images of fashion and beauty which can have a negative influence on women and girls. In particular, a small number of advertisements for cosmetics have come under fire from advertising regulators in the UK and USA. This exploratory paper discusses two magazine advertisements for mascara which came to the attention of by the US regulatory authority (National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus) “for excessive photoshopping”, leading to both ads being withdrawn from future campaigns. Using content analysis, the paper will analyze bloggers’ comments about the decision to discover what were the main issues raised.