The Truth About Advertisements and Airbrushing

Airbrushing involves retouching photos to remove flaws or change or enhance the image. In the days before digital media, airbrushing involved painting with an airbrush. Today, computer programs such as Photoshop allow for almost endless manipulation of images. In advertising, this means that the image you see may only remotely resemble the actual photograph. Some companies have come under fire for airbrushing the images of models and other celebrities into unrealistic portrayals of "perfect" women.

Adding What Isn't There

Airbrushing can add things that weren't in the original photo. For example, airbrushing can add a scenic background to a car advertisement to make the car appear to cruise down a mountain road. But airbrushing also can add to models, increasing the size of a female model's breasts, adding more hair or making a male model appear to have bigger muscles. Airbrushing can change hair color, add a tan and even lengthen arms and legs.

Taking Away

Airbrushing often is used to remove perceived flaws from a photograph. In the case of unwanted shadows or distracting background images, airbrushing serves a positive purpose. But airbrushing also removes lines, wrinkles and cellulite and slims down models, sometimes to unrealistic proportions.


Though some might argue advertising is a fantasy designed to create ideal images, critics of airbrushing charge that it creates unrealistic images, especially of women. The American Medical Association has condemned airbrushing of models in advertisements, stating that such images create unrealistic body images, especially among children and teenagers. Critics say that many of the models in advertisements, particularly for products such as clothing and beauty aids, are so retouched as to be impossible, such as a 2009 Ralph Lauren ad in which the model's head was wider than her hips. In August 2011, Great Britain banned two makeup advertisements that featured airbrushed images of Julia Roberts and Christie Turlington as being too unrealistic.


Almost every advertisement employs some airbrushing. The technique brightens photos, removes distractions and adds in needed elements. Daniel Leesong of Australia's Communications Council told "The Sydney Morning Herald" in August 2011 that while airbrushing is a common practice, it's only one small part of producing an advertisement. It's an advertiser's job to make a product look as attractive as possible, Leesong pointed out, and consumers are drawn to the airbrushed images in advertising. Though several companies, including Ralph Lauren, have pledged to be more careful about producing unrealistic images in their ads, airbrushing has its place in advertising and shows no signs of going away.