My pet peeve is misleading mascara advertisements

15 years ago

I've never understood why cosmetic companies are allowed to show pictures in magazines of a model advertising their mascara, when it is very apparent that the model is wearing false eyelashes. While the model may be wearing the mascara on her own lashes underneath the heavy false ones, there is never any disclosure that the model is wearing false eyelashes in addition, which seems rather unethical to me.

It doesn't appear that ads for haircare products use models wearing wigs, so I just don't get why the exception seems to be made for mascara.

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Comments (19)

pekemom
15 years ago
I agree!... How dumb do they think we are when you can plainly see they are wearing false eyelashes!! Grrr...
dotmom
15 years ago
boy, this has irked me for a long time. Another misleading thing (IMO) when you are trying perfumes or cologne, and use the bottle marked "tester". A friend of mine worked at a cosmetic counter in a high-end Dept. store and she said the tester bottles have more oil so the scent stays on longer, but the bottle you buy doesn't have any, or much, of the oil, so the aroma dissipates quickly. Like the mascara ads, in my opinion this is fraud, plain and simply.
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oldgardener_2009
15 years ago
That annoys me too!
mariend
15 years ago
Write to the company. Since I cannot wear much, if any makeup, I don't really check out the ads. Don't wear much perfume either.
wildchild
15 years ago
ALL print and TV advertising is misleading. Has been forever. Those hair models may not be wearing wigs but I bet they have hair extensions and weaves. Even see fast food or convenience food items that actually look like the ones pictured in the ads or on the box? Models are chosen for their "bones". In real life they are no more attractive than any average gal and often far less so. Those sheer natural flawless looks are photo-shop and heavy spackle. They didn't get them from the product they are advertising.
alisande
15 years ago
ALL print and TV advertising is misleading. Has been forever.

Maybe it seems like forever if you're younger than I. :-)

I do remember, though, working for Lever Brothers back in the sixties, when advertising was much more ethical. There were strict rules. I don't know when or how those rules got abandoned, but they apparently did. The false eyelashes (and airbrushed faces) bother me, too.
petaloid
15 years ago
Yes, I've been shaking my head over the false eyelashes in the mascara ads too, both on TV and in magazines.
rosemaryt
15 years ago
There's a long history of misleading ads involving mascara, and in fact, it's because of mascara that we now have the Food and Drug administration. The trouble started after "Mrs. Brown" was *BLINDED* by a new mascara product in the 1930s.

Just - FYI. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Lash Lure
hallngarden
15 years ago
don't you just love the fine print "results not typical", usually in fine print and flash it across the screen for just a moment.
country_bumpkin_al
15 years ago
If you'll go to YouTube and do a search for PhotoShop Makeup..it's amazing what can be done.Models do NOT look like they do in ads/magazines! LMBO! I found a video where the guy was PhotoShop'ing in some eyelashes! Guess they don't even have to go to the trouble of "installing" fake ones before having their picture taken! lol
jannie
15 years ago
I agree, those mascara ads, especially the ones that claim they grow or "lengthen" your own eyelashes are unbelievable. They show a close-up and the lash line is so full and black they couldn't possibly be natural. I take them with a grain of salt.
jel48
15 years ago
I see those ads on TV for the product that is supposed to make your own eyelashes grow in thicker, longer, and darker (the ones that admit you might have some permanent change in eye color as a result of using the product) and I see the 'after' shots and I wonder why anyone would want to have eyelashes that look that fakey and heavy anyway! I see the same sort of shots of 'after' applying some of the mascaras too! I like pretty eyelashes, I really do, and mascara is the only makeup that I have used throughout my entire lifetime (since my teens). I don't use it all the time, but I do use it and I like the results. But I can't understand why anyone would find some of those 'after' results attractive or appealing or even sexy (as the ads seem to imply)!
chessey24
15 years ago
I saw a magazine ad the other day and Andie MacDowell had wrinkles around her eyes! How refreshing is that?
jaybird
15 years ago
and then there is the line in the ad that says "will not flake - clump free - not brittle" etc.. I have yet to buy mascara that has any moisture in the tube...it's always dry and globby (is that a word?)...yuk!! and expensive!!
amicus
Original Author
15 years ago
wildchild, I agree that so many ads are airbrushed, photoshopped, enhanced, etc. that the actual product/result is rarely equal to how they look in advertisements. I don't know why the mascara ads bother me more than other ads. I think maybe it's because the false eyelashes completely cover the models' real eyelashes so that the product they are selling, in this case, mascara is not even VISIBLE to the consumer.
alisande
15 years ago
Jaybird, I don't wear mascara, but I'll bet a few people will jump in with products that have worked for them. I hear over and over (even from people who wear expensive makeup) that Maybelline mascara can't be beat.
jennmonkey
15 years ago
I remember taking a psychology class in college where we studied about advertising a bit. We saw a film about how they make advertised products look so good. A lot of the food they show is plastic. I remember them talking about that on most cereal ads, the milk looks so white in the bowls because they usually use Elmer's Glue!
jannie
15 years ago
Jennmomkey, I think I took the same class. I remember learning that food shown in ads is usually fake, not real food at all. Like that gorgeous Thanksgiving turkey might just be paper mache and brown paint.
joyfulguy
15 years ago
Haven't had extensive experience with mascara ...

but ...what do those who deplore falsity in advertising ...

... have to say about people who wear "falsies"?

ole joyful

My pet peeve is misleading mascara advertisements

Comments (19)

pekemom

dotmom

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