There is a juxtaposition of thoughts when speaking of natural beauty, yet using daily new filters on images, videos, and live content. The juxtaposing conflict comes from brands and influencers advocating natural beauty on social media, yet still, using filters or injections to alter their look.
Ogilvy UK, which is British advertising, marketing, and PR agency has recently announced that they refuse to collaborate with influencers who digitally change their look for brand campaigns. The announcement was made earlier in the month in an attempt to lower mental health issues caused by social media platforms because of enhancements or changes to influencers’ faces or body images.
Prior to this, the UK Government discussed new regulations “to foster more honest and realistic representations of the way we look,” says Conservative MP for Bosworth, Dr Luke Evens, who introduced the bill in Parliament. He added, “edited images do not represent reality, and are helping to perpetuate a warped sense of how we appear, with real consequences for people suffering with body confidence issues, which I’ve seen first-hand in my role as a GP.”
Today in Parliament I am introducing my #BodyImageBill, which calls for images featuring digitally altered bodies to be labelled, to help foster more honest and realistic representations of the way we look. (1/4) pic.twitter.com/SAlBFNRr6E
— Dr Luke Evans MP (@drlukeevans) January 12, 2022
In a statement to the House of Commons, Dr. Evans told them “If someone has been paid to post a picture on social media which they have edited, or advertisers, broadcasters or publishers are making money from an edited photograph, they should be honest and upfront about it.”
If an image has been edited for commercial purposes, or if somebody with considerable influence has edited an image they are being paid to post, I believe that the image should carry a disclaimer. (2/4) pic.twitter.com/Udq7c8HYBA
— Dr Luke Evans MP (@drlukeevans) January 12, 2022
Rahul Titus who is the Head of Influence at the Ogilvy agency told the marketing website The Drum, that “we have a duty of care as marketers, as agencies and brands, to the next generation of people so they don’t grow up with the same stuff we are seeing now. We need to educate our clients to give influencers the freedom to express themselves a little bit more.”
Every brand/client in association with Ogilvy will adapt to these changes and those include Vodafone, IBM, Coca-Cola, and Dove. Dove specifically promotes “real beauty” with “authenticity” a major part of their brand. This change may influx many other agencies across the world and may cut the clear difference between natural beauty and filtered beauty.
What do you think of these changes? Should filters be used in campaigns? Let us know your thoughts by tweeting us @itpliveme.