For L’Oréal, beauty is not always in the eye of the beholder.  On Wednesday, an advertising watchdog group in Britain upheld complaints that had been lodged against the cosmetics giant, forcing the company to withdraw two advertisements deemed misleading.  The group, the Advertising Standards Authority, began investigating the ads after Jo Swinson, a member of Parliament from the Liberal Democrat Party, filed a complaint about them. According to reports, Ms. Swinson and other Liberal Democrats support banning advertisements that use digital technology to create misleading ads.  The ads in question featured the actress Julia Roberts and the supermodel Christy Turlington. Ms. Roberts’s ad was for a Lancôme brand foundation called Teint Miracle. Ms. Turlington’s ad, for a Maybelline brand foundation called the Eraser, showed parts of her face covered by the makeup as having fewer wrinkles in contrast to the parts of her face that were not covered. The ads ran in the February editions of women’s fashion magazines Red and Grazia in Britain.  L’Oréal cooperated with the investigation by explaining the production process they used to create the ads, including the use of digital retouching. For the ad featuring Ms. Roberts, the company said the images were taken by the photographer Mario Testino and were shot using a variety of lighting techniques in addition to digital retouching. The company also claimed both of the women had naturally beautiful skin and provided photographs of each of the women at red-carpet events as proof.  But the ads were still deemed to be misleading. “In this case L’Oréal weren’t able to provide evidence to show that without additional manipulation they were able to achieve that look,” said Rob Griggs, a spokesman for the standards authority. The authority is an independent consumer watchdog group that monitors misleading advertising and consumer protection laws.  “Our principal sanction is all the negative coverage that comes with it,” Mr. Griggs said.  A spokeswoman for L’Oréal on Wednesday said the company would not provide additional comments, but provided the following statements in response to the news:  Statement from Maybelline regarding the adjudication against The Eraser: We are disappointed to learn that the ASA has adjudicated against our press advertisement for The Eraser. The advertisement features Christy Turlington who has beautiful skin and features a product that has been proved scientifically to conceal imperfections. Even though the ad features an obviously illustrated effect, some lines are still clearly visible beneath the illustration and we do not believe that the ad exaggerates the effect that can be achieved using this product. In consumer tests among 253 women, 78% agreed that The Eraser provided flawless coverage.  Statement from Lancôme regarding the adjudication against Teint Miracle: We are disappointed to learn that the ASA has adjudicated against our press advertisement for Teint Miracle. The product has been proved scientifically to provide luminosity to the skin. We do not believe that the ad exaggerates the effect that can be achieved using this product. In consumer tests among over 100 women, 77% agreed that Teint Miracle made their complexions look radiant and luminous.
A decision by a watchdog group in the Britain on Wednesday forced L'Oreal to withdraw two makeup advertisements that were deemed misleading.