What To Learn From The Israel Photoshop Law
When advertising negatively affects the viewers perception of your brand or your target market, it’s time to reconsider the messaging. The fashion industry has come under intense criticism for blurring the lines between actual beauty and Photoshopped beauty. On the flip side, fashion conglomerates invoke free speech as their right to display models however they’d like. In Israel, there’s no more discussion – with the Israel Photoshop Law, Israel has clamped down on certain Photoshop usages in media and advertising (such as airbrushing & editing) as well as banned underweight models as determined by the international Body Mass Index. Plus, all Photoshop’d ads must indicate the usage on all ads.
With the rise of multiple eating disorders among women in the U.S. and worldwide, the Israel Photoshop Law is aiming to disrupt the image that thin – well, ultra thin – is the definition of beauty. It’s a formidable task – the global fashion/apparel industry is a $1.7 trillion industry where thin sells. Although free speech and image advertising can debate out their sides for years, what can we, as advertisers and agencies, learn about advertising from this debate and the Israel Photoshop Law?
Advertising needs emotions.
Advertising is not merely about educating customers or promoting sales. It’s meant to create emotions. The emotional component of advertising is a major reason why Photoshop and skinny models have been blamed for eliciting an emotion of insecurity among females. As an advertiser, you need to determine what emotion your brand is inspiring. if you’re selling yogurt, your ads & colors need to inspire happiness, cheerfulness and bliss. If you’re selling an alarm system, you could be selling a feeling of safety and comfort or an emotion of fear and uncertainty: a happy family that feels secure in their home or a family who’s worried about their recently robbed home. If your advertising strategy is to attack a competitor, you need to know that your attack may inspire an emotional reaction of confusion and anger that may backfire – your customers could feel angry that you’re attacking someone. Know what emotions you’re creating from your advertising before you let it go live.
Identify what your product is associated with.
Beauty does sell. That’s not debated. But the image of beauty as being a skinny woman hawking a Burberry perfume may not be attainable physically for most women. Which is why it is a perfect opportunity for fashion houses to say “if you can’t be beautiful like this model, you can always buy the perfume of this model & come close!” The pitch by the fashion industry is brilliantly simple – if you can’t be it, then buy it! Wear the clothes! Buy the bag! You’ll be as close to beautiful as possible with this piece of fashion. The fashion industry has positioned their products to be a vital part of what beauty is. The question for you as an advertiser is this: what are your products associated with? If you have a restaurant with an old logo or outdated seats, you may be associated with mediocrity. If your electronics packaging isn’t unique or trendy, your products may be associated with cheap quality.
Real people need real sales pitches
If you haven’t caught Dove’s “Evolution” video, check it out. It shows how a normal person transforms into a Photoshopped beacon of beauty. Once your eyes are opened to the airbrushed realities of the fashion industry, it may make you rethink if what they’re pitching you is real. Will you really get more attractive with this cologne? Will you truly become an elite figure in your town because of your bag? The fashion industry sells you on the fantasy of being more beautiful & important but not on the reality of the product you’re buying (it’s not a bad thing; it’s just how they operate. Knowledge is power!). If Gucci bags sold merely on reality, we’d all buy our bags at Walmart because, well, a $100 bag can carry just as much as a $2000 Gucci bag. That’s the reality.
One of the best marketing tools in your toolbox is client testimonials: real people giving real feedback about your business. It’s real, it’s relatable, it’s approachable. You may even run into that person on the street. As a business, you need to promote real people & real experiences to sell. Even if you’re a college pitching students to achieve their dreams with an MBA, you’ll still use graduates as the face of your ads. Your ads need to reflect your reality not what you’d like to be known for. If customers are seeing your ads as a real indicator of what your store looks like and is about, you’ll have a more successful ad campaign.
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