The short clip below, called Body Evolution, shows an ordinary young woman turned into a "perfect" advertising model in well under a minute. Hair, make-up and then heavy digital retouching change her face and body until she barely looks like the same person. It is a quick, clear answer to a common question: how much of what we see in ads is real?
Who made Body Evolution and why
The model is Sally Gifford Piper, and the video was directed by her husband, Tim Piper. Tim Piper is also credited as a co-director of Dove's famous 2006 advert Evolution, which used a similar make-up-and-Photoshop sequence for Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty and won two Grand Prix awards at Cannes Lions. Body Evolution applied the same idea to the whole body.
The clip was published by the campaign site GlobalDemocracy.com and had been online for a year or more with only a few thousand views. In late October 2013 it was picked up by popular blogs and spread worldwide. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the couple said their goal was compulsory disclaimers on airbrushed photos of models, and Sally said she wanted to push for more variety in the body shapes and sizes people see.
What the retouching changes
Watching closely, you can see the edits stack up. The waist and thighs are pulled in, the neck is lengthened, the nose narrowed, the eyes enlarged and the skin smoothed until pores disappear. Her skin is made tanner, her hair fuller and her chest larger. None of these steps alone looks extreme, which is the point: dozens of small changes add up to a body that does not exist.
Professional models themselves have said the same. Victoria's Secret model Erin Heatherton, quoted by HuffPost around the time the video spread, said of her retouched pictures that "you look better, but it's a lie."
Why it matters for how we see ourselves
We compare ourselves with the images around us, often without noticing. When those images have been edited beyond what any real body can achieve, the comparison is rigged. Researchers studying body image have repeatedly linked exposure to idealised media images with lower body satisfaction, especially among teenagers and young women, and doctors' groups such as the American Medical Association have spoken out against heavy manipulation in advertising.
The fix is not to stop enjoying photography. Fashion images are crafted with lighting, styling, posing and editing, much like a film set. The problem starts only when a finished, polished image is treated as a normal standard for a real person's appearance.
What changed after videos like this
Campaigns like Evolution and Body Evolution helped push the issue into law in several places:
- France passed rules in 2015 requiring models to provide a medical certificate of health and requiring retouched commercial photos to be labelled, with fines for breaking the rules.
- The United Kingdom's Advertising Standards Authority has banned ads it judged misleading because of retouching, including a Lancôme ad featuring Julia Roberts.
- Norway introduced a law in 2021 requiring a label on paid adverts in which a person's body has been digitally altered.
How to watch ads with a clear eye
A few simple habits help: assume most commercial images of people are edited; notice who benefits from making you feel you need to change; follow creators who post unedited photos; and be kind about your own reflection, which has not been through hours of professional work. If worries about your body are affecting your eating, mood or daily life, talk to a doctor.
Sources: Entertainment Tonight: Identity of 'Body Evolution' model revealed; HuffPost (30 Oct 2013); Wikipedia: Evolution (advertisement); Wikipedia: Photograph manipulation. Video: GlobalDemocracy.com.
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