CoverGirl Mascara Ad Banned -- By CoverGirl -- For Excessive Photoshopping

UPDATE: CoverGirl's PR agency let us know that the ad was not technically banned -- just voluntarily discontinued in response to NAD's inquiries.

Well, it looks like an ad has finally been pulled in America.

After a year of the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banning fashion and beauty ads left and right, the US's National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus Claims (NAD) has cracked down on a popular makeup ad for excessive Photoshopping.

Business Insider reports that the NAD has deemed print ads for CoverGirl NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara dishonest, including the spots featuring celeb spokesmodel Taylor Swift. According to the NAD, the ads made "superior performance claims" such as "2X more volume" and "20 percent lighter" that simply couldn't be substantiated.

The NAD specifically noted that the Swift ad had a disclaimer printed on the bottom that clearly stated, "lashes enhanced in post production."

"You can't use a photograph to demonstrate how a cosmetic will look after it is applied to a woman's face and then -- in the mice type -- have a disclosure that says 'okay, not really,' " NAD director Andrea Levine told Business Insider.

That sounds about right to us -- who wants to be lied to? (Although generally we take any product that claims to transform us into Taylor Swift with a giant grain of salt.)

Maybelline was made to address an similar Photoshop issue earlier this year, when an ad for its anti-aging "Eraser" product used Photoshop instead of the product itself to erase spokesmodel Christy Turlington's dark circles. Britain's ASA banned the ad for misleading consumers.

In fact, Business Insider notes that in cracking down on the Taylor Swift spot, the NAD is specifically trying to follow the ASA's lead. Does that mean we should expect a banned-ad-of-the-week in the US to match Great Britain? Could this be the end of Photoshopping Disasters?

See the CoverGirl ad below and click through for a roundup of ads banned by the ASA in 2011 alone.

Comments

[CammyV]

10:39 AM on 11/14/2012

I have no objection to banning anything to do with Taylor Swift. I am on Taylor Swift overload right now.

[susanr5]

12:36 PM on 02/03/2012

The Sofia Vergara Cover Girl mascara commercial is so photoshopped that it's horrifying to look at. How can you take a beautiful woman and completely erase her skin and redraw it all in? And why should I think the mascara works, when I can clearly see that she's wearing false eyelashes? What happened to the truth in advertising laws, anyway?

[aka62792]

11:53 PM on 12/25/2011

I have wondered for years, why make-up companies were flat out lying on what their product could do. Most of the mascara commercials are fake eyelashes, it absolutely cannot be just our God-given eyelashes and mascara. How stupid do they think we are, I just stopped buying it. I have incredible lashes and I use mascara cake you mix with a drop of water.

[luv ya]

10:21 AM on 12/22/2011

Thank you.
Just as those ads Beyonce has done for Hair products and she wears wigs should be pulled for
misrepresentation.

[Pondo Sinatra]

06:30 AM on 12/22/2011

Anyone remember the movie "Looker"

[MichaelFroemel]

05:07 AM on 12/22/2011

Nobody believes commercials. They all just want your best - your money.

[Billk29]

03:30 AM on 12/22/2011

Nobody ever expects her to look 'real' so dunno what the big deal is with this. She's never more real in her looks than a Big Mac picture is on a billboard.

[Annette Hammond]

09:20 PM on 12/21/2011

Of course! Even those Pantene comercials and other hair and makeup products.Even the facial lotions,promising wrinkle be gone.Those pantene products will not have your hair flowing threw your fingers like you see on tv.All computerized

[Andres64]

09:03 PM on 12/21/2011

Wow. Even makeup isn't enough?

[DSevere]

06:00 PM on 12/21/2011

About time, most mascara ads' models so obviously have false eyelashes on, it's really irritating. But it backfires on companies, because most women, once they find a good mascara, stop trying new ones, in part because the ads are totally unreliable.

(p.s. Diorshow is really, really good...)

[future primitive]

05:38 PM on 12/21/2011

So now her looks are just as faked as her ability to sing?

[aphextwin07]

03:49 PM on 12/21/2011

lol, talk about doublethink

[mskittykat1326]

02:03 PM on 12/21/2011

What are they talking about? All these adds really do fulfill their promises with the help of Photoshop. They never said anything about these things occurring in the real world...lol Silly watch dog agency.

In all serious, it's nice to see them crack down on these things. It's one thing to want free market, but it's totally another to pray on the ignorance of others....particularly the impressionable youth.

[rlpl02]

01:13 PM on 12/21/2011

Wait till they figure out that the models and actresses in mascara commercials are actually wearing false eyelashes. I just want to eye roll on that.

[Debra Weber]

12:46 PM on 12/21/2011

Well, FINALLY......most of those mascara ads feature spokesmodels wearing false eyelashes. Most of the ads for anti-aging makeup are shown on twenty-something models. Perhaps not the Ellen DeGeneres ads for Cover Girl, but both the print and TV versions are shot in such soft focus as to be almost blurry, and you can't see even one of her wrinkles, which I happen to think are fabulous. The Cover Girl ads featuring Queen Latifah make her look made of wax. Check out her "More" magazine cover to see her real beauty shine through. Most of us are hip to the ad world BS by now.