Get Ralph Lauren’s Bobblehead Look — Just Add Photoshop!

Oct 8, 2009 | Filed Under: Advertising,Pop Culture | Tags: Beauty, Bobblehead Alert, Women's Issues

Alternatively, you can add no food to your diet.  Ever!

Ralph Lauren’s legal team was apparently none too pleased when Boing Boing (via Photoshop Disasters) re-published this disturbing ad, threatening Boing Boing’s site host with a takedown notice.  Boing Boing refused to comply with their demands, citing that the post fell under the definition of fair use “for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting.”  (True dat.)

I guess Ralph Lauren wasn’t happy about the free “advertising!”  That’s because they’re now under the gun for promoting such a grossly distorted and unhealthy image of a woman’s body.  Here is what 23-year-old model Filippa Hamilton usually looks like:

Um, it appears RL’s photo editing team went a bit nuts with Photoshop’s “Lindsay Lohan” tool on the Blue Label jeans ad.  Hard to fathom that the ad went through a million reviews, from the advertising agency’s account team, to Ralph Lauren’s marketing gurus, to the head of Ralph Lauren, and everyone signed off on it:

“She looks AWESOME!”

No wonder 10 million American women suffer from eating disorders.  I remember a similar-looking ad inspiring Teenage Candy to go on the Frozen Yogurt-and-Chicken Sandwich diet.  A scoop of peach frozen yogurt for breakfast and a Wendy’s crispy chicken sandwich for dinner.  That’s it.  Worked, too — after an entire summer of that healthy diet, my body was ready to crumble under the weight of my massive head.

I looked AWESOME!

Okay, maybe not so awesome.  But now I AM jonesing for a crispy chicken sandwich.  Mmmmm.