Double media bursts today. The Politics Show at lunchtime are looking at the issue of airbrushed and digitally altered images and the effect they have on our sense of well-being. The Liberal Democrats have led the political field on this one – and we are calling for honesty and transparency on advertising. Altered images need to show clearly that they are just that – altered. The Royal Society of Psychiatrists has joined us in the call – for a label on these images that says whether they have been altered – and not in such tiny type as to be unreadable! The LibDem ‘Real Women’ campaign is now being backed by academics across the world as concern rises about the impact on women, men and particularly the young whose sense of well-being is diminished by the constant bombardment of perfected images which are unobtainable and unrealistic.
Then the Westminster Hour late tonight! What will the topics be? My guess is bullies and polls!
Lynne Featherstone 
Don’t we already have laws covering false advertising? We’ve come a long way since the days when manufacturers could say anything they please about their products, i.e drink Guiness because its good for you etc.
Lynne, don’t you think you’re overstepping the mark by backing a campaign that is essentialy concerned with controlling people’s thoughts and emotions. Are there literally no areas of our private lives that you fear to tread?
This is a well intentioned but fundamentally misguided campaign, the manpower spent on such a project could be reployed elsewhere and put to much better use.
chefdave -coulnd disagree more. This is about transparency and honesty in advertising -not about saying advertisers can’t use retouching. But this is only one part of the challenge – follow the Real Women campaign to find out more.