A couple of weeks ago, we posted about photoshopping gone wrong in adverts. Now a row has emerged over the alleged altering of singer Beyonce in an ad for L’Oreal hair brand Feria. The singer, who is of mixed Creole and African-American descent appears extremely pale in the print ad, which appeared in a recent issue of Elle. Her hair is a strawberry blonde shade.
An argument has now broken out over whether the singer’s skintone has been digitally lightened. The New York Post picked up on the ad and suggested that the company was trying to ‘whitewash’ one of the world’s best-known black women. L’Oreal denies that her skintone has been altered but you can judge for yourself by viewing the controversial picture here along with a paparazzi shot of the singer.
What’s your take on this? We all know that airbrushing and putting tints on photos of celebrities is pretty common practice but do you think that’s ok? Could this simply be a picture taken using a certain light or filters to bring out the hair colour? Or does this appear to give the message that it’s not as beautiful to be black as white? While L’Oreal denies altering Beyonce’s skintone to make her lighter, this racially-charged sentiment is one that a global cosmetics business, which needs to appeal to people of all skintones, surely wishes to avoid. Let us know your view……
August 10, 2008 at 9:15 am |
a little bit i guess..but who cares, it is still the same Beyonce. White or not, Beyonce is world faous as a black girl. It’s not like it is some unknown model so she could be mistaken for someone else. White or not it is Beyonce, the black girl who made it in the white world!!! why the fuzz..
August 10, 2008 at 2:59 pm |
This was clearly photoshopped to hard. You can take pictures that make your skin tone look paler, but it wont change your hair color. She changes her hair color a lot, so perhaps she is rocking red right now. L’oreal is not going after African American women as customers, so they do not care about offending them. Beyonce can sell to all races and that is what she was employed for.
If you are mad, then do not buy their products.
Dr. Wright
The Wright Place TV Show
http://www.wrightplacetv.com
August 14, 2008 at 4:01 am |
It is obvisous that the photo had been alter to give the image of Ms. Knowles looking white. When will the world accept that everything does not resolve around one particular color. Is white always wright!!!!!!
August 17, 2009 at 2:45 pm |
[...] Last year, I blogged about a controversy surrounding whether Beyonce, one of the world’s most naturally gorgeous women, had been subject to skin lightening…. [...]