Photo: ModCloth
Fashion advertising, as you have probably heard a gazillion times before, is aspirational. The average consumer has little to no chance of replicating the beauty of models seen on various types of screens or on the pages of magazines. That’s particularly true when the advertiser uses Photoshop to enhance its images. So, what happens when a retailer eschews retouching but continues to connect fashion with lives lived happily? Well, if its ModCloth, it sells a lot of clothes online. This retailer, it also turns out, comes out in support of legislation that would regulate the use of retouching in ad photos.
Several days ago, ModCloth came out in support of H.R. 4445 (AKA The Truth in Advertising Act), which would require the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigate the use of Photoshop in presenting deceptive body images in advertising and on the web. The proposed law, as a Slate article points out, would not ban the use of retouching in advertising, but would require the agency to establish guidelines for how it may be used.
Opponents of the legislation see the law as not only a potential overreach of governmental authority, but question whether it will be effective in ending deceptive advertising practices. While retouching has been used for decades in advertising, there has not been a lot of research done on its actual effectiveness in driving product sales.
ModCloth, which defines its fashion sense as “vintage, retro-inspired and indie," made headlines last year when it decided to feature clothing on its website by clothing type instead of body size.