Rebecca Ortiz, an assistant professor of advertising at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School, who researches issues of sex, gender, and the media, said that CVS’s decision to stop substantially retouching photos for their CVS-brand beauty products is an incredibly smart move for their brand, and the beauty industry in general, for two reasons.
“First, many brands, particularly beauty-centered brands, are seeing a great deal of positive feedback from consumers when they decide to shift towards greater transparency and authenticity in their advertising. Both Dove and Aerie are great examples of brands that have taken advantage of this consumer desire for body-positivity and seen positive sales results,” said Ortiz.
“While CVS is not necessarily innovative in their idea to ditch the airbrush, many brands have yet to fully embrace this type of authenticity, so CVS will still be able to claim that they were early adopters of this movement. They may even end up being one of the most memorable brands in this area, because they will eventually nudge their suppliers (non-CVS brands) to adhere to the same standards, or those brands will be ousted as ‘digitally modified,’ and not much is more damaging than being considered ‘fake’ in today’s market of beauty and health products,” says Ortiz.
“Second, this move by CVS is consistent with their other recent branding tactics. In the past few years, CVS quit selling tobacco products in their stores and rebranded themselves as ‘CVS Health”’to position themselves as more than just a drugstore, but as an integral part of their consumers’ journey to live a healthy lifestyle. Being healthy is about the physical and mental, and a substantial body of research provides evidence that unrealistic body images can have substantial negative impact on our mental health. CVS’s decision to remove this unhealthy imagery is concurrent with these other efforts,” says Ortiz.
Ortiz is available to speak to media about this issue. She can be reached at rortiz09@syr.edu or 315.443.1911 and you can follow her on Twitter. Further questions can be directed to Ellen James Mbuqe, director of news and PR at Syracuse University, at ejmbuqe@syr.edu or 315.443.1897 or Keith Kobland, media manager at Syracuse University, at kkboland@syr.edu or 315.443.9038.
A memorial service honoring late Newhouse instructor Sherri Taylor will be held Thursday, Oct. 29, at 5 p.m. ET on Zoom. Taylor died Oct. 19 following a long illness. During more than 30 years as an instructor of graphic design…
Roy Gutterman, associate professor of newspaper and online journalism and director of the Tully Center for Free Speech in the Newhouse School, wrote an op-ed for Syracuse.com titled “The right to vote is ‘the essence of a democratic society.’ Exercise…
Mark J. Lodato, dean of the Newhouse School, announced the establishment of the Lorraine Branham Scholarship Program. Used primarily to recruit and support Newhouse students from socioeconomically disadvantaged populations and other underrepresented groups, the program will provide under-resourced, talented students…
Whitney Phillips, assistant professor of communication and rhetorical studies in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, authored an op-ed for Wired: “The Election Will Bring a Hurricane of Misinformation.” Phillips, an expert on disinformation and political communication, says the…
Nina Kohn, the David M. Levy L’48 Professor of Law and faculty director of online education in the College of Law, wrote an op-ed for The Hill: “When it comes to healthy aging: location, location, location.” Professor Kohn, an expert…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
