It’s the new fountain of youth, the source of flawless beauty, perfect body and the right look. No, not a wonder cream, but the best kept beauty secret in the fashion industry: It’s Fotoshop by Adobé, which comes with a magical airbrush.
A California-based filmmaker and commercial director, Jesse Rosten, made this spoof ad about the wide use of Photoshop techniques to debunk the myths perpetuated by the beauty industry, which touts unrealistic results of beauty products and alters photographs in the magazines to an unachievable standard.
“This commercial isn’t real, and neither are society’s standards of beauty,” says the tagline for the two minute 14 second spoof ad, which hilariously uses the pseudo-scientific jargon and the advertisement techniques of beauty product ads to poke fun at the beauty industry.
“I was watching TV one sleepless night and stumbled upon an infomercial for some beauty product. The commercial showed before and after portraits that to my eye looked like the same photo just photoshopped. I laughed to myself. Then I made this video,” Rosten explains on his blog jesserosten.com.
Rosten loaded the spoof video on Vimeo, a video-sharing website, on January 9 and the video went quickly viral with 2.3 million views, in just four days.
The video touts the Fotoshop by Adobé as the “next revolution in beauty to create a whole new you”. It touts the miraculous qualities of the “healing brush” to create a look that leaves you “virtually unrecognisable”.
The hue/ saturation is celebrated for its ability to change hair, skin colour, brighten eyes, whiten teeth, and even adjust your race. Then the qualities of the liquefy tool are highlighted to help change the body shape, without surgery or the need to exercise. “It won’t rub off,” says the spoof ad.
“You don’t have to rely on a healthy body image or self-respect anymore — now that’s the power of Photoshop,” goes the voiceover in the video.
The closing lines actually elevate the ad to the amazing category: “Maybe she’s born with it,” whispers one of the persons in the voiceover. The reply goes: “Nah, I’m pretty sure it’s just Fotoshop.”