Second Paper: Ethical and Inclusivity Concerns within the Beauty Industry

Hailey De La Torre

Advertisement and Public Relations, University of Arkansas

Instructor: Teressa Tackett

March 31, 2024

 Ethical concerns with advertisements consist of several different issues that impact

individuals and society. Advertisers have a responsibility to be truthful and transparent in the

way they show their products, but false and misleading information is often used which leads to

distrust from consumers. Consumers may become skeptical of advertising messages, and that

leads to a decrease in brand loyalty and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Unethical

advertisements can also promote harmful products or habits that may hurt the consumer since

they are being led by deceptive advertisements. This is commonly seen in the beauty industry

when advertisements showcase unrealistic beauty standards. Advertisements for beauty brands

are known for showing images of unattainable beauty standards by using Photoshop to

manipulate the image. This has led consumers, particularly women, to deal with a sense of shame

and difficulty in self-acceptance. These advertisements are leading consumers to believe in false

expectations or develop unhealthy habits. “One of the most significant ethical issues is

advertisers providing misleading claims or messages that give the public false information”

(Technology, 2024). This has become a concern regarding women’s physical and mental health

as they try to keep up with what is being promoted.

Before creating an advertisement, it is important to decide who the target audience is. In

the beauty industry, much of the target audience is women. Women are used for advertising to

other women. However, the women photographed for advertisements are edited and altered

which creates a false version of what the woman naturally looks like. Their skin is smoothed,

their body is enhanced, and hair and makeup are seemingly perfect. After all the touches have

been applied to the photo, the woman does not look the same way she does in real life. It all

becomes unrealistic but is still advertised to make other women believe they can achieve the
same look by using the product being promoted. This is when it becomes an ethical concern

because there is a false advertisement being used to persuade others to make a purchase decision.

Apart from false images in advertisements, there are other ethical concerns in the beauty

industry such as inclusivity. While there has been effort towards inclusivity regarding race and

body types there are more groups of people being left out which include those with disabilities,

LGBTQ+, and older adults. Allure says, “We must include all ethnic groups, gender identities,

and age brackets. It is the largest minority in the world”. The previous quote states, “It is the

largest minority in the world”, but truthfully is the majority of consumers. This is why brands

need to become more diverse in their advertising because not all their consumers fit the mold of

Western beauty standards.

Beauty standards have been extremely prevalent throughout human history. People are

determined to be “beautiful” based on their body shape, facial proportions, height, and weight.

From racism to social media, there are so many influences on current-day beauty standards.

Much of what is seen on social media today is an unattainable beauty standard. The reason it is

unattainable is because it is not real. Photoshop, filters, plastic surgery, and makeup are used in

most photos to change one’s appearance. “These filters are rooted in Western beauty standards:

some lighten your skin, make your nose smaller, and even change your body shape” (Solomon,

2024). These filters create a very niche beauty standard and portray false personas on social

media. One of the main reasons people alter their appearance in a photo is to gain more likes,

comments, and followers. It has become a competition between users to see who gets the most,

which is why photos are being edited. People want to give off this “perfect” image of

themselves, so they edit their photos to receive more likes because it feels like validation and

approval from others.

 Aside from gaining a certain amount of interaction on social media, photoshop, and

filters are used by individuals who want to fit in or “seem like everyone else”. People want to

look like the other people they see in magazines, billboards, and ads. They want the slip waste,

smooth and even skin, no blemishes, or anything that many women naturally have.

Some beauty brands are finally realizing that their customers come in all shapes, sizes,

and colors. A woman named Tracy Faith wrote in a blog post, “One of the most refreshing

aspects of beauty standards in 2024 is the emphasis on inclusivity” Social media has slowly

become a safe place for people to embrace their unique beauty and has played a role in this shift.

From makeup tutorials to body positivity movements, these platforms have allowed people to

embrace themselves without being rejected by harmful beauty standards. Few brands have taken

it upon themselves to be more inclusive in their advertisements such as Fenty, Dove, and Aerie.

Fenty Beauty launched a campaign video with forty different foundation shades and featured all

different ethnicities and plus-size models (Penji, 2024). Dove says, “Beauty is wonderfully

diverse” and has provided steps towards making beauty inclusive. Dove believes that beauty is

within everyone therefore they feature real women of different ages, sizes, ethnicities, hair color,

type, or style in their advertisements. This is similar to Aerie, a brand that creates lingerie,

activewear, loungewear, and sleepwear for women. In 2014, Aerie launched a body image

campaign titled “Aerie Real”. This campaign features models of various sizes, shapes, and skin

colors, while also showing their beauty marks, scars, disabilities, and tattoos. They stopped using

supermodels and digital retouching to promote their products and aimed towards encouraging

positive self-image amongst women.

Placing more women in creative positions will have a positive impact on beauty

advertisements. First, a more authentic representation will be seen in advertisements because

women will be able to share firsthand insights and experiences with the campaigns. This will

ensure that ads are well-designed and resonate with diverse audiences. Second, women often

have a deeper understanding of the needs and preferences that other women want when it comes

to beauty products. They can use this knowledge and create messages that females want to hear

before purchasing a product. Next, women in creative roles can challenge conventional beauty

standards and promote more inclusive representations by showcasing diverse body types and

skin tones.

Kat Gordon, the copywriter/ creative director for the 3% movement saw how women

were often left out of pitches and important meetings. She saw firsthand how women had a lack

of motherhood support, lack of female mentorship, lack of awareness that being a woman is an

asset to connecting with customers, a lack of celebration of female work due to gender bias, and

a lack of women negotiating the salaries they deserve. The 3% movement’s mission is to bring

the number of women and people of color who are creative directors up to 50%. The movement

believes the more varied the people who come up with ideas, the better the ideas will be. Their

research has shown that the majority of social sharing and consumer spending is by women and

people of color, so it only makes sense for them to be included in the creative process. This

movement marches to Diversity = Creativity = Probability. As advertisers, it is their goal to find

the best people, so the best work can be made, and result in the best profit. They say, “You can’t

accomplish all of that with only one demographic, race, or gender.

Despite the progress we have made, there is still a lot of work to be done to make the

beauty industry more inclusive. the beauty industry is mostly advertised by using women who fit

a Western beauty standard, which is fair skin, a youthful appearance, blemish-free skin, and a

slim body. These features are not inclusive to everybody and leave out a majority of people,
especially those who are purchasing the products. This has led to women feeling uncomfortable

in their skin and a lack of self-acceptance. Social media has affected this in both a negative and

positive way. The negative effect is that women feel the need to photoshop their pictures before

others see them because they want to fit in with what social media has created the beauty

standard to be even though it is not real. On the flip side, social media is also becoming a safe

place for women to showcase their true selves through movements like ‘body positivity’ where

they are showing what the natural body of women can look like. However, a more inclusive

image of beauty cannot only be influenced by movements on social media. It needs to start with

advertisement campaigns since that is what more people see. Opening creative positions to more

women in the advertising field will have the most impact. This is because women understand

what other women are going through and can help influence what society believes by creating

ads that showcase diverse women.

 Works Cited

Faith, T. (2024, February 23). Embracing authentic beauty: A look at Beauty standards in 2024.
Medium. https://medium.com/@tracyfaith/embracing-authentic-beauty-a-look-at-beauty-
standards-in-2024-b13265bb373a#:~:text=Whether%20you%20have%20freckles%2C
%20scars,shapes%2C%20sizes%2C%20and%20colors

Technology, T. O. of. (2024, February 5). Advertising and marketing. Federal Trade
Commission. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/advertising-marketing

Horn, X. (2021, January 27). Is the beauty industry glossing over disability?. Allure.
https://www.allure.com/story/disability-inclusion-beauty-industry-advertising

Solomon, D. (2022, March 9). Social media has made beauty unattainable. Next Generation
Politics. https://www.nextgenpolitics.org/blog/social-media-beauty#:~:text=The%20use
%20of%20filters%20reinforces,this%20distorted%20sense%20of%20validation

Top inclusive beauty ads that make a difference. Unlimited Graphic Design Service. (2024,
March 25). https://penji.co/beauty-ads/

author, D. (2022, October 31). Steps toward inclusive beauty. dove.

https://www.dove.com/us/en/stories/about-dove/inclusive-beauty.html

Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, March 24). Aerie (clothing retailer). Wikipedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerie_(clothing_retailer)#:~:text=%22Aerie%20Real
%22%20is%20a%20body,American%20Eagle%20in%20January%202014

The mission. 3 Percent Movement. (n.d.). https://www.3percentmovement.com/mission