United Kingdom and United States Pull Taylor Swift Ad

Proctor and Gamble has been asked to pull an advertisement featuring Taylor Swift for CoverGirl on a print ad for NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara by the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority. The Advertising Standards Authority is a regulatory commission that oversees and governs advertising in England. The Advertising Standards Authority claims that the advertisement included Photoshop alterations of Swift. The Authority also objected to claims made by Proctor and Gamble about the product in the advertisement, which the Authority could not prove. Proctor and Gamble eventually pulled the advertisement from circulation.

The United States has a similar watchdog agency for advertising, known as NAD, which has agreed with the United Kingdom Authority about the advertisement featuring Swift, a popular country music star. It was revealed by The New York Times that NAD ruled the advertisement was misleading earlier in the month of December. On msnbc.com, Today said that product manufacturers know that their advertising claims need to be accurate and honest. They know that their advertisements cannot deceive consumers by making products look better by using Photoshop.

The United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority helps to prevent misleading or false advertisements from hitting the public through print publications. NAD did agree with the British Authority and decided to ban the advertisement in the United States as well. The banning of the Swift advertisement in the United States is the first time such a drastic measure was taken in the country when it comes to manufacturers falsely advertising products to consumers. NAD is hoping that since the advertisement has been pulled, this will be a warning message sent to other companies about using Photoshop to illegally make a product look better to increase customer sales.

NAD, as reported by the Hollywood Gossip, asked Proctor and Gamble to prove that the mascara in the advertisement was 20 percent lighter than the most expensive brands on the market today. NAD also asked Proctor and Gamble to prove that the mascara can produce twice the volume of other products on the market today. Proctor and Gamble was unable to prove any of these points, which is why NAD pulled the advertisement from circulation in the United States.

Oversight agencies in both the United Kingdom and the United States expressed concern regarding how the advertisement was misleading to consumers. The agencies claim that the advertisement falsely suggested that the mascara is the only product on the market today that could produce the amazing results seen on Swift’s face in the advertisement. Possibly the main implication of the advertisement was the fact that the ad made it seem like the mascara was far superior to the rest of the mascaras on the market today.