Oh please Loreal, what do you mean by "categorically untrue" that you have altered Beyonce's skin tone and features?
Are you implying that Beyonce came already "bleached" and whitened for that?
Frankly, it's not surprising to see a whiter Beyonce. Compare her present photos to that of her photos some years back. She has been honey color but now she's so much fairer. Using too much whitening cream?
In a white men's world, the white men is king! (*rolleyes*)
-----------------------------
The New Paper
10 Aug 2008
UPROAR OVER SINGER'S L'OREAL AD
Was fairer Beyonce white washed?
MICHAEL Jackson used to sing: 'It doesn't matter if you're black or white.'
But for some readers in the US and the UK, it does. At least, over a new advertisement by L'Oreal featuring American singer Beyonce Knowles.
In the ad, which is to promote the French cosmetic giant's Feria range of hair dyes, the 26-year-old R&B songstress is featured in a full-length head shot and looks almost unrecognisable with a fairer complexion and reddish-blonde hair.
The ad is found in the September issues of Elle, Allure and Essence magazines.
It first created a stir after celebrity gossip website TMZ posted two pictures of Knowles, comparing the ad with a photo of Knowles with noticeably darker skin.
The New York Post called the ad 'shocking' and accused L'Oreal of making Beyonce look like a 'weird, nearly white version of herself.'
Yesterday Britain's best-selling black newspaper The Voice said it would be 'disgusted' if the image had been 'whitewashed'.
Editor Steve Pope said: 'There is an attitude in the modelling industry that black models do not sell. 'It appears Beyonce has been the victim of that kind of attitude. If it is true, I cannot understand why anyone would want to do anything so ridiculous. It is offensive to Beyonce. It is trying to distort who she is.'
But L'Oreal has come forward to deny that the ad was tampered.
A spokesman told AP: 'It is categorically untrue that L'Oreal Paris altered Miss Knowles' features or skin tone in the campaign for Feria hair colour.'
Knowles' publicist Alan Nierob told the New York Post: 'There is no doubt that anyone seeing that ad will know that it is Beyonce.'
The singer, who recently married rapper Jay-Z, has been a spokeswoman for L'Oreal since 2001.
Mr Eric Deggans, chairman of the media-monitoring committee of the National Association of Black Journalists, urged magazines to be more careful. He said publications have to be sensitive to perceptions that light-skinned African Americans are more acceptable.
Beyonce's 'skin is lighter (in the Elle ad) than the way I'm used to seeing her', said Mr Deggans. 'Advertisers and magazines need to be careful about this, even if it's just a production process.'
A representative for Elle said magazine ads are reviewed before they are printed, but wasn't sure of the exact procedure for checking content. She added: 'We don't put things into our magazine without looking into them first.'
The New York Post cautions that the L'Oreal ad could have the same repercussions as the 1994 Time magazine fiasco. Then, the weekly news magazine featured a booking mug shot of double-murder suspect OJ Simpson, the same time as its rival Newsweek.
But Time used computer manipulations to make Simpson look darker-skinned, prompting anger from black activists who said it implied that dark skin was equated with violent behaviour.
Are you implying that Beyonce came already "bleached" and whitened for that?
Frankly, it's not surprising to see a whiter Beyonce. Compare her present photos to that of her photos some years back. She has been honey color but now she's so much fairer. Using too much whitening cream?
In a white men's world, the white men is king! (*rolleyes*)
-----------------------------
The New Paper
10 Aug 2008
UPROAR OVER SINGER'S L'OREAL AD
Was fairer Beyonce white washed?
MICHAEL Jackson used to sing: 'It doesn't matter if you're black or white.'
But for some readers in the US and the UK, it does. At least, over a new advertisement by L'Oreal featuring American singer Beyonce Knowles.
In the ad, which is to promote the French cosmetic giant's Feria range of hair dyes, the 26-year-old R&B songstress is featured in a full-length head shot and looks almost unrecognisable with a fairer complexion and reddish-blonde hair.
The ad is found in the September issues of Elle, Allure and Essence magazines.
It first created a stir after celebrity gossip website TMZ posted two pictures of Knowles, comparing the ad with a photo of Knowles with noticeably darker skin.
The New York Post called the ad 'shocking' and accused L'Oreal of making Beyonce look like a 'weird, nearly white version of herself.'
Yesterday Britain's best-selling black newspaper The Voice said it would be 'disgusted' if the image had been 'whitewashed'.
Editor Steve Pope said: 'There is an attitude in the modelling industry that black models do not sell. 'It appears Beyonce has been the victim of that kind of attitude. If it is true, I cannot understand why anyone would want to do anything so ridiculous. It is offensive to Beyonce. It is trying to distort who she is.'
But L'Oreal has come forward to deny that the ad was tampered.
A spokesman told AP: 'It is categorically untrue that L'Oreal Paris altered Miss Knowles' features or skin tone in the campaign for Feria hair colour.'
Knowles' publicist Alan Nierob told the New York Post: 'There is no doubt that anyone seeing that ad will know that it is Beyonce.'
The singer, who recently married rapper Jay-Z, has been a spokeswoman for L'Oreal since 2001.
Mr Eric Deggans, chairman of the media-monitoring committee of the National Association of Black Journalists, urged magazines to be more careful. He said publications have to be sensitive to perceptions that light-skinned African Americans are more acceptable.
Beyonce's 'skin is lighter (in the Elle ad) than the way I'm used to seeing her', said Mr Deggans. 'Advertisers and magazines need to be careful about this, even if it's just a production process.'
A representative for Elle said magazine ads are reviewed before they are printed, but wasn't sure of the exact procedure for checking content. She added: 'We don't put things into our magazine without looking into them first.'
The New York Post cautions that the L'Oreal ad could have the same repercussions as the 1994 Time magazine fiasco. Then, the weekly news magazine featured a booking mug shot of double-murder suspect OJ Simpson, the same time as its rival Newsweek.
But Time used computer manipulations to make Simpson look darker-skinned, prompting anger from black activists who said it implied that dark skin was equated with violent behaviour.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment