Olay has now merited to be counted among the brands listed by CVS for its Beauty Unaltered movement. That’s because it announced by 2021, it would stop showing model images with flawless skin achieved by digital manipulation. It calls this commitment the Olay Skin Promise and boasts that it is “the first mass skin care brand in the US to make this stance.”
It explains the rationale for eschewing flawlessness as a way to take the pressure off. “Women are constantly facing conflicting expectations about their outward appearance. The type of perfection one is used to seeing in ads is not realistic because it’s not real; even beautiful women made up and lighted to full advantage had the benefit of digital effects to achieve those looks.”
The model for Olay pictured above is Busy Philipps, an actress and television writer, and not just an Instagram influencer, though she does appear there too. She is quoted on the Olay site as being fully behind the brand’s direction:
I am beyond proud to be a part of the Olay Skin Promise. As a mother of two girls, I understand the importance of being an authentic role model in every sense of the word. Olay stands for championing women and I love seeing them use their huge platform to inspire women everywhere to live life authentically and unapologetically.
Phillips’ remarks reflect that a brand that shows it aligns with the values of its target market – in this case women who want to look good but don’t want to consider themselves manipulated by an industry’s ads – can actually claim points for authenticity. Even a cosmetic company to be able to come across as a champion of positive change to empower women.
Well, better late than never. The issue of fake flawlessness was raised over eight years ago in the beauty spoof video, “Fotoshop by Adobé.” It lays its cards clearly on the table with the declaration, “This commercial isn’t real, neither are society’s standards of beauty.”
“You don’t have to rely on healthy body image or self-respect anymore,” the viewer is assured. With the magic of Photoshop, perfection is just a few clicks away. Does eliminating Photoshop from the ads alone fix that problem? That is questionable, but there are more changes already underway in advertising that do reflect the trend that Olay is capitalizing on now.