This Week's Mind + Body Buzz - May 15, 2008

This week: Dove slips up on Photoshop accusations, the British seem to show up to work drunk and why gas prices affect our work (it's not because we drive slower and get there late).

by Deanna Michalopoulos

Topics: health, cancer, drinking, alcohol, cancer prevention More

A (Re)touch-y Subject

Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty" was knocked from its soapbox earlier this week when a celebrity photo retoucher was mistakenly quoted as saying he had a heavy hand in the print images. The Photoshop knight, Paul Dangin, was quoted in The New Yorker saying: "Do you know how much retouching was on [the Dove ad campaign]? But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone's skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive." Media outlets pointed the "hypocrite" finger at Dove, whose entire campaign celebrated the average woman's female form — specifically, without fancy touch-ups. The company released a statement saying it did not hire Dangin for the job; he confirmed, saying the reporter minced his words. He had actually performed lighting enhancements on Dove's subsequent campaign, "Pro-Age." Do you believe them? Do you think that the widespread use of retouching has skewed our perception of our bodies?

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