CVS launched its “Beauty in Real Life” campaign with un-retouched photos, and we want more of this, please

In the era of Photoshop, it’s hard to know what you’re looking at some days. And while it’s pretty rare to see major Photoshop fails, it can be frustrating to know that digitally altered pictures, especially ones that advertise makeup and beauty products, rarely look like they do in photos when used IRL. In an effort to be transparent, CVS is committed to banning Photoshop in its beauty ads.

Beauty in Real Life is CVS’ largest campaign to date and illustrates its commitment to creating new standards for makeup imagery. It is leading the charge on this, and hopefully more retailers will follow in their footsteps. CVS has even gone so far as to create its own watermark, called Beauty Mark, to denote that its ads are Photoshop-free.

This campaign was created by women, for women, and focuses on all the ways that women use beauty within their lives. All of the women who are featured in the campaign represent broad diversity and are shown in “real life” moments. You’ll be able to check out this campaign across digital, print, social media, and TV screens from now through June.

What do you think of CVS’ Beauty in Real Life Campaign?

We definitely hope it propels the industry forward in terms of advertising their products in a way that is diverse, transparent, and authentic. 

In a statement about the campaign, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of CVS Health, Norman de Greve, stated:

"There's been a shift in what consumers want to see when it comes to beauty. We wanted to introduce a campaign that uses beauty to make women feel good about themselves by empowering them to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin."

At the very least, this will send a positive message to a young generation of beauty lovers looking for ways to define themselves in a heavily Photoshopped world.