Unaltered Beauty campaign by CVS

CVS, a pharmacy in the USA, has a campaign for the photos they use in their cosmetics aisle. The Beauty Unaltered initiative is based on the idea that they do not thin, smooth, or digitally alter their cosmetics ads in order to help the mental health of the customers buying their products.

Interesting promise.

I'm skeptical of altruistic claims by the Insecurity Industry (cosmetics or plastic surgery). While photoshop and filters are issues that contribute to the alienation of women from their true appearances, I would argue that makeup companies cannot really be in the business of helping women fully align with their true appearances. I find the phrasing of this campaign to be unnerving, because cosmetics are never really about beauty or an unaltered woman.

Cosmetics are inherently about alterations. People who wear makeup often belong in two camps, the first being those who believe makeup is just supposed to "enhance" what you've got, and others who believe that makeup in any amount is fine. Both groups, the "mild enhancers" and the "free for all's," may interpret the word "alteration" differently, but all makeup is altering something. So it seems at best inaccurate to use "unaltered" about an advertising campaign, and at worst, manipulative. I don't really care if the alteration is a bit of concealer and mascara or a full-face of makeup; we must be honest that both are altering one's appearance.

So can they really put a slogan on these ads claiming "Beauty Unaltered"? Does unaltered really apply to any of the models they're photographing? Supporting the alteration of women's faces but not the photographs of those women's faces seems like a half measure for a bigger problem. The root of women's mental health issues and insecurities is not merely in filters and photoshop, but in the inundation of altered women's faces by cosmetics, hair removal, injections, and surgeries as well as filters and photoshop. Some girls grow up in an environment where they never see intact women and the Insecurity Industry profits off that. Campaigns like this are aware of the growing number of concerned women who are troubled by the rapidly growing popularity of all "treatments," surgeries, and products. Scapegoating filters and photoshop in order to absolve the continued sale of cosmetics is a slick way to make semi-conscientious consumers feel like they're making a "moral" purchase, placating them a bit to keep them from completely going makeup free. If we can villainize the newcomers in this 💩show, then concerned women can imagine that what makes the growing industry problematic is just the recent photoshop and filters- not the age old issue of objectifying women. It's easier to go back one step and choose a "moral" lipstick than to go back ten steps and say that commodifying the female body is wrong.

CVS advertisers have been moralizing their products in other ways. The bottom corner of this ad boasts:

-fair trade, suggesting no slavery was used
-clean, implying it's healthier than other makeup
-vegan and cruelty free, implying it's a good product because it wasn't tested on animals
-not photoshopped, implying they're supporting girls' and women's mental health

But lets analyze for a moment the other details of this ad: