Was Beyonce's skin white-washed?
Jesus, what a week for beauty advertising. First there was Nipplegate 2: Eva Mendes's Calvin Klein nip slip; then nude Olympians hawking Powerade; and now, L'Oréal's been caught with their pants down. And while we've heard of corporate "greenwashing," this is ridiculous.
Well, not really, but they are scrambling to deny allegations that Beyoncé's skin was lightened in the ad on the right, which appears in this month's Elle, Allure and Essence. Said the company in a statement to E! News:
"We highly value our relationship with Ms. Knowles. It is categorically untrue that L'Oréal Paris altered Ms. Knowles's features or skin-tone in the campaign for Feria's hair color."
Hm... Well obviously they're not going to admit any shenanigans, but now that we've kind of moved on past that whole Montauk Monster moment, people seem to be enjoying speculating how this particular aberration of nature could have occurred. Some are saying that skin color changes throughout the season, but that since it's summer she should be darker, if anything. But hello, this photo could've been shot anytime. Another popular theory is that the combination of lighting and makeup could've made her skin look lighter, or that there was some kind of snafu at the printers. Very possible, very possible.
Whatever the case may be, it seems like advertisers need to get really real really soon, because the public's bull ----- whistle is getting louder and more shrill. Of course, as much as I'm loving all of this, I can't stop thinking of that scene in the original Batman when no one can wear makeup anymore (the Joker tainted it all, duh) and the news casters are all depressed and everyone looks like ----- . Just sayin'...
Anyhoo, compare and contrast the photos. What do you think?
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