French Pols Want "Fashion Police" to Ban Retouched Models in Ads

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A French politician — and 50 of her colleagues — wants a new law imposing a “health warning” on any ad featuring a photo of a model that has been retouched. The warning would say:

Photograph retouched to modify the physical appearance of a person.

That would include pretty much all photos of human beings that appear in ads, as all ad photos are retouched. Even the Dove “real beauty” girls got Photoshopped.

French parliamentarian Valerie Boyer said, per Reuters:

“These images can make people believe in a reality that often does not exist,” Boyer said in a statement on Monday, adding that the law should apply to press photographs, political campaigns, art photography and images on packaging as well as advertisements.

Breaking the law would be punishable with a fine of 37,500 euros ($54,930), or up to 50 percent of the cost of the ad, Reuters reported.

As Gawker points out, this would require the establishment of a “fashion police” agency:

… how would the law be monitored? Literal fashion police?

Perhaps they can arrest Lady Gaga.

Tags: Advertisement, Photograph, Jim Edwards

Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.

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