Entertainer Quickie: Julia Robert’s Ad Banned in UK, David Beckham Launches Clothing Line

The United Kingdom has strict rules in its advertising standards, especially when it comes to airbrushing.

Britain recently banned two ads due to excessive airbrushing.

One ad, for Maybelline New York, was an ad for one of L’Oreal’s make-up products, The Eraser. The product was featured by model Christy Turlington.

The other ad that the “advertising watchdog” banned was for L’Oreal’s Lancôme products that featured actress Julia Roberts. The group accused the companies of overdoing the digital retouching features and said the altered images are very misleading for their products’ potential.

According to the NY Daily News, Julia Roberts’s two-page magazine ad is to be removed by the Advertising Standards Authority. The Authority claims that in the ad for Lancôme, the “actress’ flawless skin is too good to be true.”

The ads came into the Authority’s attention through complaints held by Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson. Swinson believes that through the Authority’s ruling, it has shown that excessive retouching can be misleading and dishonest.

She applauds the decision to remove ads that have images she deems make women and young girls feel pressured into trying to look like the featured celebrities.  According to The Guardian, Swinson stated that flawless skin and super-slim bodies don’t reflect reality and that the ban “sends a powerful message to advertisers – let’s get back to reality.”

Both ads have been banned from future publications for the overdose of airbrushing.

Speaking of advertising, David Beckham will be launching his new clothing line in February 2012.

The soccer player has joined a new team, trading in his soccer cleats for fashion wear. This time he will be teaming up with H&M fashion chain to produce his own body wear line called “David Beckham, Bodywear.”

The line is expected to be available in 1,800 stores globally.

According to The Guardian, Beckham has had past experience in the underwear advertising business through his appearances in many of Armani’s billboard campaigns in 2008. However, his involvement with Marks & Spencer for their children’s clothing line that was launched in 2002 failed, showing that his fashion effect is not always influential.

Through H&M collaboration, Beckham plans on having new and different designs of his bodywear line appear seasonally. The fashion chain has previous experience with big names in fashion that have led to huge sell-outs. Some of these names include Jimmy Choo, Stella McCartney, and Karl Lagerfeld.

According to US Magazine, Beckham stated, “The final piece in the jigsaw was a retail partner who has the vision and capability to distribute these products globally. In H&M we have found the perfect partner to collaborate with going forward, and I’m excited and looking forward to showcasing the range to H&M customers.”

Beckham’s business partner, American Idol Simon Fuller, hopes that the partnership will lead Beckham into becoming a real entrepreneur and icon.

Next year’s launch will show whether David Beckham is a man with many talents or if he should stick to the soccer field.

Photos courtesy of David Shankbone, Shannon Nelson, The Democratic Alliance, and CLF via Google and Flickr.