This video clip is part of an ad campaign run by Dove, the soap people.  Instead of using professional supermodels, with their extraordinary bodies, this campaign uses “real” women instead.  I think supermodels are hot, but I have to admit that I think this campaign does a great job pointing out that real women are sexy too.  This particular ad, however, is something special.  Doing photography, I’m well aware of the ability to make images that are part reality and part fantasy.  The ability of advertising to shape the self-image of young women, and men for that matter (think Men’s Health), lies in the assumption that this beauty is real.  We all know, but often don’t stop to think about it, that it’s not.  This ad does a great job of showing how unreal beauty ads are.

As a photographer, I’ve rewound and watched the photoshop portion of the video about 20 times.  How big of a geek does that make me?