L'Oreal ads banned

Airbrushed images deemed 'excessively misleading'...

09:50 28 July 2011

Two L'Oreal adverts have been banned in the UK by the Advertising Standards Agency [ASA] for being excessively retouched and misleading.

Liberal Democrat MP, Jo Swinson, complained that the ads, featuring actress Julia Roberts and supermodel Christy Turlington, were "not representative of the results the products could achieve".

The advertising watchdog agreed that the images, promoting Maybelline's The Eraser foundation and Lancome's Teint Miracle, were exaggerated, breaching its code of conduct.

Chief executive of the ASA, Gary Parker, said:

"If advertisers go too far in using airbrushing and other post-production techniques to alter the appearance of models and it's likely to mislead people, then that's wrong and we'll stop the ads."

L'Oreal admitted retouching the adverts but denied that they were misleading.

The cosmetics giant has faced similar complaints in the past.

It had to add a disclaimer to adverts for their Telescopic mascara featuring actress Penelope Cruz, saying that she was wearing false eyelashes, after the ASA ruled the adverts exaggerated the effect the mascara could have on lash length.

Lancome and Maybelline expressed disappointment that the adverts had been banned in statements on 27 July.

Both companies said scientific tests proved the effectiveness of their products and cited consumer surveys that showed a majority of women found the foundations achieved the desired results.