Boing Boing And Ralph Lauren Clash Over Image Of Emaciated Model

[supernova]

There's a great blogosphere-battle brewing between website Boing Boing and clothier Ralph Lauren over an advertisement featuring a Ralph Lauren-clad woman photoshopped to impossible thinness.
The gauntlet was thrown when a Boing Boing blogger reproduced the ad with this succinct critique: "Dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis."
Instead of addressing this disturbing, and accurate criticism, Ralph Lauren responded by accusing Boing Boing of copyright infringement for reprinting the ad. Even though, As Boing Boing points out, this is "classic fair use: a reproduction 'for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting.'"
....
Other strategies for battling Ralph Lauren Doctorow plans to employ include: reproducing the ad with the original criticism, publishing Ralph Lauren's legal threats and offering "nourishing soup and sandwiches to models."


Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/06/emboing-boingem-and-ralph_n_311593.html

The ad in question:



This is more than airbrushing out a model's acne, or perhaps getting rid of the odd bulge here and there for a smoother line. This woman looks like she's wearing a full body corset!

[Captain Hilts]

1. Creepy. L.L. Bean's catalogue models aren't a whole lot better. They feature

'outdoorswomen' with concave arms.

[supernova]

2. She's got Ann Coulter's hands

I just noticed.

:puke:

[saracat]

3. What body? This is like an anime cartoon. She looks like an alien!

[iris27]

4. Wow, that one's begging to be immortalized on Photoshop Disasters.

http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/

[mopinko]

15. is there a nomination process?

photoshop disaster is right. who would want that on their magazine? they aren't wondering why magazines are folding are they?

does anybody know who this model is, and what she actually looks like?

[supernova]

19. I'd be curious to know

what she really looks like w/o the PS job.

She could be Brooke Shields' twin. Though, Brooke has a healthy weight, IIRC.

[Blue_Tires]

5. hideous...

[Canuckistanian]

6. My God, that's weird-looking

A giant adult's head on a child's body.

And those spindly arms and legs remind me of a spider.

NOT sexy.

[Demoiselle]

12. More than weird...completely unreal!

There's no way that that head, that size, could really grow out of that body.
It is way way out of scale..

[malaise]

7. She neeeds some food

That's gross. I swear people in the fashion industry hate women.

[Captain Hilts]

18. I agree. They hate women. nt

[Skittles]

8. she looks like one of those walking stick insects

[imdjh]

14. I saw a LIVE MALE version of this the other night, headed into a baseball game

I did a double take. He was a good looking young man who was so thin, and wearing "skinny jeans" hiphuggers at half mast to boot. In addition to everything else he was walking with really poor posture that made him look like an ad for low self esteem. But he was with friends and laughing.

[supernova]

20. Yes, some people are naturally scrawny

but she's disproportionate all the way around.

It looks like she has a 5" waist.

[imdjh]

26. Most simply scrawny guys don't try to accentuate it.

[supernova]

9. OK, why the unrec?

Does the unrecc'er think this model is really great and something we should be encouraging?

[darkstar3]

10. I'd be curious to find the correlation

between the amount of airbrushing used in media and the number of eating disorders suffered in the age group of 10-21. I suspect the relationship is proportional, at least.

On the picture itself, I think we were headed here eventually. The question is, now that we've reached the truly ridiculous, what will be done about it? Will we finally be able to use photoshop/airbrush nightmares like this to eliminate such harmful images, or will these assholes continue to get away with damaging our youth?

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[supernova]

25. LOL!

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

13. Sickening. I want to feed her!

[busybl]

16. I read years ago that they lengthen the legs 20%.

[supernova]

23. Why?

What does that get you, for aesthetics?

[valerief]

17. She looks like she's probably mentally ill and should be treated rather than exploited. nt

[Maru Kitteh]

22. I am so sick of DU'ers who think they can diagnose mental illness on the internet

I really, really am.

[valerief]

24. Okay, she looks like she has cancer and should be treated rather than exploited. nt

[Maru Kitteh]

29. I guess you need to diagnose a person in a photo to feel superior.

I think that is sad.

[Canuckistanian]

21. Sammich, STAT

And give her an IV of fries, NOW! We're losing her!

[BlooInBloo]

27. Ugh. No mind, no body. I hope she's a really, really nice person at least.

[Roland99]

28. That's downright disturbing!