That’s it, the fight is on and we’ve been waiting for it for a long time. If you feel guilty like us in front of girls with clear skin and faces straight out of Athens, hope is reborn to make those Instagram filters disappear. Behind the #Filterdrop, an initiative by make up artist Sasha Pallari who has managed to reach the ears of the giant of Silicon Valley. Explanations.
Dangerous advertising for consumers
Skin without pores or acne, an elongated nose, plumped lips, the filters on Instagram give pride of place to digital cosmetic surgery and this for too long. The worst ? When influencers use these facial deformities to promote beauty product for the skin … A false advertisement that made Sasha Pallari sound the alarm under the #Filterdrop.
In question ? Photos of influencer Elly Norris for the tan brand Skinny Tan and that of Cinzia Baylis-Zullo for Tanologist Tan using both a very popular filter on Instagram, the “Perfect Tan”. Sasha then rushed to file complaints against these two advertisements with the ASA, the Advertising Standards Authority.
“I thought to myself: Does anyone realize how dangerous this is? I don’t want children to grow up thinking they are not pretty enough because of what they are. see them on social media, ”she told the BBC.
The ASA replied that the influencers had indeed violated the rules of the CAP code relating to misleading advertising and exaggeration.
Filters should not be applied to adverts if they exaggerate the effect of the product, the ASA has ruled.
ASA was responding to the #filterdrop campaign that called for it to be compulsory for influencers to state when they use beauty filters to promote skincare or cosmetics. pic.twitter.com/ZxMb112lm6
— Capital Moments (@CapitalMoments) February 3, 2021
No filter is the new filter
Much more than a denunciation of a fraudulent practice, many Instagrammers have seized the movement to do something else: assume their natural beauty. By putting photos before and after filters, on the #Filterdrop, thousands of publications have emerged. A way of uninhibited young women who often compare themselves to celebrities very retouched on their photos like Kylie Jenner.
A recent survey conducted by Girlguiding, a British non-profit organization, reports a rather “alarming” fact: a third of young girls never post a selfie without a filter that changes their appearance. In the same survey, 39% said they regret not looking the same in real life as they do online.
A free speech under the #Filterdrop
For Sasha Pallari, makeup artist and model, this is not surprising. Through the hashtag #Filterdrop, she wants Internet users to “value who they are rather than what they look like”. She then continues in her BBC interview saying: “For me, it’s not that uncommon to share a photo with no makeup and no filter. But a woman still told me thatshe thought it was scarier than giving birth. And that must change! “
Pallari’s video on #Filterdrop campaign sparked a real craze. There are many testimonies where many admit not realizing how attached they were to filters until they are asked not to use them. We then speak of dysmorphia and this can go very far.
For example, “one of the last filters I unearthed allowed me to slim my nose very realistically. Until then, I never thought my nose was big. Just how big this kind of filter is. to be destructive to someone who has less confidence in themselves? “Pallari worries. For her, these filters simply should not exist, because they don’t show reality.
What does Instagram do?
Often singled out for its very vague moderation, Instagram, contacted by the BBC, reacted. The social network is working on measures to reduce social pressure, for example with the removal of “likes”. The company specifies “we want the effects of AR (augmented reality) to be a safe and positive experience for our community. That’s why we allow people to create and use effects, but we do not recommend them in our effects gallery“.
Thanks to #filterdrop, naturally appearing influencers can regain control of more realistic beauty standards. They can also inspire their fans to assume their faces as they are. A good initiative that has not finished talking about it, we hope!
And you, do you use these distorting filters? Share your answer on the forum, section Beauty, Makeup.
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