P&G brand, Olay, has stated that it will stop retouching its advertising images by the end of 2020. The commitment covers print, digital, TV and OOH.

The announcement, which was made at an event in New York on February 19, coincides with a new print campaign, My Olay, by US agency, Badger & Winters, which features Denise Bidot, Lilly Singh and Busy Philipps. At the event, Olay senior communications manager, Kate Di Carlo, noted that the imagery for Olay’s Super Bowl ad (also by Badger & Winters) wasn’t retouched.

Olay is also introducing a Skin Promise seal, which will be applied to print, digital, out-of-home and influencer images across North America from 2021 to confirm when one of Olay’s images hasn’t been retouched. The company has stated that it expects all of its partners to follow suit and will walk away from influencers who don’t meet its standards.

Retouching has been standard practice in beauty advertising for decades, but in recent years some companies have been making a move away from it.

US Pharmacy giant, CVS Pharmacy, stated that beauty imagery which had been “materially altered” would have to be disclosed by the end of 2020. It also introduced Beauty Mark, a watermark which shows imagery that has not been materially altered to change a person’s size, shape, proportion, skin colour, eye colour, wrinkles or other characteristics.

In 2018, Dove launched its No Digital Distortion Mark, for all branded content globally, which confirms that images have not been altered to make changes such as removing wrinkles or cellulite.