While the rise of the mean ad left us despairing earlier this summer, there's a counter campaign gathering pace which indicates a light in what can the very dark (read: Photoshopped) territory of women's representation in advertising.
The #AerieREAL campaign from US store American Eagle's Aerie Underwear label launched last summer, promising to show models and brand ambassadors completely unretouched - stretch marks, tattoos and all.
Actress Emma Roberts has now posted her unfiltered, all-natural campaign for the brand via a sneak peek on Instagram, and the 184k likes (in 15 hours) are overwhelming support for the campaign's ethos and Emma's natural beauty.
"So excited for you guys to see my @aerie #aerieREAL campaign finally!! This photo is not re touched and has no filter !! Remember REAL is sexy. REAL is cool!!" She captioned the shot of her posing in a lace bralet, briefs and a plaid blanket.
Ok, so Emma is a beautiful actress and ergo flaw free compared to many 'real' women - but the campaign (the orginal ads featured girls diverse shapes and sizes) in general is a big leap towards a more realistic standard of beauty in ads. Given the brand is aimed at a youth market it can only be positive for young women to see someone they might look up to minus the smoke and mirrors of your average ad.
As Emma tells Refinery 29: "It's important for me to be a part of this, because I see how hard it is for girls my sister's age with social media, and feeling like they need to look a certain way. I want to promote the idea that it's okay to look like yourself — you don't have to Photoshop your Instagrams!"
On launching the campaign, the brand explained that "It’s a selling point because our customers represent this great demographic, and they don’t get to see what girls their age really look like.” Furthermore, on American Eagle's website users can view Aerie products on size representative models, rather than just worn by one 'average' cup and butt size model.
We're yet to see other brands fully embrace the same natural approach to their ads, but any backlash to the unnerving and unrealistic standards of beauty in mainstream advertising have got to be good, right? Especially if it means a few of Emma's photos might soon replace those infamous over-airbrushed 'Are you bikini ready?' shots.