Snickers Just Gave Photoshopping Culture the Middle Finger
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Snickers mocked the absurdity of Photoshopping culture with a parody ad on the back of Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Edition, which also made headlines for featuring a reportedly untouched photo of plus-size model Ashley Graham.
The Snickers ad, which was made by agency BBDO New York, shows a heavily Photoshopped woman with a belly button right below her chest and mysterious hand resting on her shoulder, among other things. The image is meant to highlight some of the ridiculous lengths companies will reach for in order to promote unrealistic body standards:
"Photo retouchers get CONFUSED when they're hungry," reads the ad.
Snickers included another ad on the inside back cover of Sports Illustrated that shows a woman being hit with sand thanks to an aggressive wind machine. This seems to make fun of ads and films that sexualize women's hair and clothing blowing freely in the breeze.
Consumers are tired of Photoshop.
Twitter users quickly expressed their appreciation for the ad, which comes at time when several publications, including Sports Illustrated, have been accused of overly Photoshopping photos. A few months ago, Victoria's Secret was criticized on social media for posting an image to Facebook that appeared heavily Photoshopped and overly sexualized.
In the photo, the model appears to have part of her right arm missing, and her legs and rear end also look very distorted, as ATTN: previously noted. Many complained that Victoria's Secret had shamelessly edited the image. Five years ago, the lingerie purveyor received flak after a model's arm was erased in a photo.
American Eagle, meanwhile, has been earning praise for its Aerie Real campaign, which includes only non-airbrushed photos of models and is often called a big threat to Victoria's Secret. Aerie saw a nearly 10 percent sales bump after announcing its Photoshop ban two years ago. Judging by the social media commentary, their customers are in love.
