Big-name skin-care brands promise dewy, perfect skin, but often their ads don't reflect that. Now Olay is promising to use only non-photoshopped images in its ads.
Instead of showing the natural outcome of their products on real, untouched photos, they give us photoshopped-to-the-extreme advertisements. After multiple brands have come under fire for Photoshop fails, Olay has decided to be one of the first of its kind to show completely natural photos.
Busy Philipps, a body-positive activist and empowered feminist, is the spokesperson leading the charge for Olay's Skin Promise initiative. The mom-of-two looks gorgeous in the non-photoshopped images, and her skin looks so clear.
Procter & Gamble announced via Twitter that Olay would not be photoshopping its advertisements from here on out.
Starting with its next campaign featuring Busy Philipps, Olay's ads will be completely unretouched. A logomark will be present on every photo that hasn't been retouched, and the brand has committed to meet this goal by 2021 for all of its advertising. It will become the first major US skin-care brand to take such a stance, according to the Olay Skin Promise page.
Olay celebrated its announcement with a massive Times Square billboard.
Olay hosted a panel featuring Busy Philipps in New York City, where they talked about this commitment. Plus, there was a massive billboard celebrating the progressive steps toward body positivity. Actor Lilly Singh and fashion model Denise Bidot are also part of the initiative.
Busy Philipps is the proud spokesperson leading the natural skin initiative.
Philipps posted an Instagram of the billboards in Times Square celebrating the news. She wrote in a caption, "I have to say, seeing my face and our @olay ad all over Times Square this morning was beyond surreal. I'm so proud of the commitment Olay has made to ZERO RETOUCHING in ALL OF THEIR ADVERTISING! ???????????????? @lilly @denisebidot WE LOOKED GREAT TWENTY-TWO STORIES TALL #olayskinpromise #olaypartner."
The no Photoshop stance is getting great support from fans on Twitter.
One woman reached out on Twitter and asked people what they thought of Olay's decision and whether it made them appreciate the brand more. Someone replied, "Yes. Authenticity is key and I think @OlaySkin can leverage this to market to millennials who care about natural beauty with minimal touch ups via photoshop."
Skin-care brands, including Olay, have been criticized in the past for their overuse of Photoshop.
In 2012, one person tweeted, "Olay and Adobe Photoshop should have a little merger or something." In the past, the overuse of Photoshop was so apparent and disappointing. This is a big move on Olay's part, and hopefully it will convince other beauty brands to do the same.
The skin-care brand has been upping all of its feminist and philanthropic efforts.
In a recent tweet, Olay pledged to donate up to $500,000 to support women in STEM. The brand ended up raising $250,000 for programs like Girls Who Code. Clearly, the brand is making a push for being more progressive and supportive of women as a whole.
Thanks, Olay, for stepping up and showing completely unretouched models!
Keep an eye out for the campaign for My Olay which will feature the unretouched photos. Busy Philipps said in the campaign, "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."
