Penelope Cruz, L'Oreal Misleading Mascara Ads

Have you ever looked at a picture in an ad or commercial and thought to yourself, "Hey, that's not real. I need to do something about it." No? Me neither. Well, one woman called up the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and told them she thought Penelope Cruz’ eyelashes in a L’Oréal commercial were fake. Personally, I do not have enough time on my hands to do this but we could be on to something here. The ASA has ordered L’Oréal to add a disclaimer to ads with models wearing false lashes, citing that the ad is misleading.



The series of L’Oreal ads claimed that women could have up to 60 percent longer eyelashes with its Telescopic mascara under the moniker: “Lashes that could reach for the stars.” But Penelope was actually sporting faux lashes in the ads.

L’Oréal has been ordered to add a disclaimer to future advertisements featuring models wearing false lashes. I always debate what is actually true or if a photo is unaltered. I usually think celebrities lie when they give interviews as well, especially about what they eat and what they do for workouts. You should know this if you've read any of my previous blogs. I love to contradict the dumb celebrities that change their story depending on who is interviewing them.

Now that the ASA has ordered a company to let their potential buyers that no, your eyelashes will not look like this if you use our product, does that mean other companies or magazine covers should add disclaimers saying, "No, this person does not actually look like this, but a pretty sweet editing software helped them look this good."

This is a new precedent. For those who aren't familiar with this term, it means that if someone else brings up a similar case/issue/complaint, the ASA should follow suit with the previous ruling if the allegations are the same. I think this is a huge step towards the illusion advertisers try and create. Aren't all ads misleading after all? I can't believe the ASA ordered L'Oreal to do this. Seriously, think about it. If one stay at home mom can make this sort of small step, maybe ordinary people really can make a difference. Can we seriously start a protest that magazines need to let their readers know what is real and what is fake?

Lastly, I always wonder if in fact the makeup that models wears in a Covergirl ad is actually a Covergirl product. Like, if the ad was for lipstick, I can understand that the lipstick is probably Covergirl, but what about the rest of their face like mascara or foundation? That's misleading to me. I look at the model and then I try on the product and it's like night and day. If anyone knows the answer to this I would love to know. What else can we get the ASA to change about these advertisers that make beauty seem unattainable for the non-rich and famous?