Since the launch of Photoshop 31 years ago, seeing airbrushed images of celebrities and models has become commonplace and to some degree expected; so much so that when unretouched photos of Beyoncé leaked online around the 25th anniversary of the graphic editing programme in February 2015, fans expressed outrage at what they were seeing – a woman with imperfect skin, blemishes and laughter lines. The unmanipulated images were quickly pulled from the site, Beyoncé World.
Now onwards Influencers will no longer be able to apply filters when advertising beauty products on Instagram, if they exaggerate the effect of the product.
If you’re on Instagram, you’ve undoubtedly seen it: the filter. Whether it is smoothing the wrinkles on someone’s face or dulling some bad lighting, the use of filters has become commonplace in photos and stories. This is a problem in advertising, particularly in the beauty industry, as it can exaggerate the effectiveness of a product. The UK is doing something about this. Their Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), a regulator of advertising, has told influencers that filters should not be used in skincare and cosmetics ads. It said that the content could be “misleading.”
Sasha Pallari IG Poll On Whether One Must Use Beauty Filters On Pics
The organisation then decided that the filters ‘misleadingly exaggerated the effect the product was capable of achieving’, and that simply saying a filter was used in the caption was not good enough.
Now, any UK brand, influencer or celebrity posting ads who breaks these newly-implemented rules will be both removed and banned from being reposted.
The move comes following the months-long #filterdrop social media campaign spearheaded by make-up artist Sasha Pallari in July last year. She was inspired to do so because of the messages she had received from women who were negatively affected by the unattainable beauty standards these filtered images pushed. Using the hashtag #filterdrop, attracted the attention of celebrities, influencers, and politicians.
The ASA got involved and looked at two Instagram stories—one for Skinny Tan Ltd and one for Tanologist Tan—and determined that by applying a filter, the content was “misleadingly exaggerated the effect the product was capable of achieving.” The organization ruled that the ads were likely to deceive customers, which then meant the ruling applied to skincare and beauty advertising by all brands, influencers, and celebrities in the UK. If an ad breaks the rules, it could be taken down and barred from appearing again.
Pallari was elated by the ASA’s ruling “I feel like the detrimental effect this is having on social media users has finally been taken seriously and this is a huge step in the right direction for how filters are used and the way cosmetics are advertised online,” she said.
“I can now help make a difference to how these women view themselves in the mirror and that’s amazing.”
A spokesman for the ASA added: “An ongoing focus of our work in this area continues to be on raising awareness of the rules and supporting influencers with the guidance and tools they need to help get their ads right.
“We’re also working closely with the social media platforms who can and will enforce our rulings where an advertiser is unwilling or able to work with us.”
Despite making progress with the ruling, Pallari said she would continue to fight to get face-altering filters removed from Instagram altogether.
“There’s no point coming this far, to only come this far,” she said. “How can Instagram agree to remove filters that promote plastic surgery, but not filters that alter your shape – how else are we going to alter our face without plastic surgery?”
Sasha Pallari Posts Pic On IG Without Filters
Celebrities including former Little Mix singer Jesy Nelson have also encouraged others to ditch the face filters.