Was This Really Necessary?

Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority decided that airbrushing is bad, or at least when women are involved. According to Jo Swinson, a Liberal MP, this decision was a long-time coming because:

“Experts have already proved that airbrushing contributes to a host of problems in women and young girls such as depression and eating disorders.”

The decision was prompted because an Olay ad featuring Twiggy, hawking some miracle cream or other, was airbrushed to enhance the photo.

Shocker.

OK, it’s the UK, but isn’t this kind of free-market interference regulation what Obama is all about? For it occurs to me that if: a) you are dumb enough to believe that people don’t retouch advertising photos, and b) your self-esteem is dependent on comparison to the appearance of a 60 year old ex supermodel, then you have bigger problems than eating disorders. As a matter of fact, you’re probably going to be depressed when you – I don’t know – go out in the real world and notice that Mrs. So-and-So looks way better than you.

I’m all for truth in advertising, but this kind of nit-picky, nanny state nonsense if one gigantic waste of everyone’s time. Shouldn’t society be working to build stronger personalities instead of enabling fragile ones? And if you’re Procter and Gamble, what’s your response to this decision? If it’s me, I would either: a) find an appropriately-aged model who has had enough plastic surgery to make her look 30 years younger, b) just hire a 30 year old model, or c) hire a freaking artist to draw an attractive looking face.

And that’s the thing about regulation – there’s no end to it. Every time government decides some “problem” is so desperately important that IT MUST BE REGULATED the free market comes up with a work around, which leads to more VITALLY IMPORTANT REGULATIONS, and so on and so on, round and round, until we wake up one day with a code of regulations that is so voluminous and impossible to decipher that anybody can interpret its meaning in any way they damn well choose.

The common sense saying is “don’t sweat the small stuff”. But when it comes to controlling our lives, government can’t expend enough perspiration on  the tiniest of things.

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