Dive Brief:

• Vintage-inspired women’s apparel and accessories e-retailer ModCloth has signed a pledge that it will not alter images in post-production that “change the shape, size, proportion, color and/or remove/enhance the physical features” of models in ads. In other words, it won’t use Photoshop or similar tools to make models appear thinner or more “perfect.”

• The retailer is the first to sign the Heroes Pledge For Advertisers, a petition put forth by the Brave Girls Alliance, which aims to battle gender stereotypes and unrealistic, unhealthy images and representations of women and young girls.

• The move garnered the retailer a lot of positive press, and on its blog ModCloth said that it fits with its own philosophy around presenting images of and to women and girls.  

Dive Insight:

If this pledge can attract more signers, the movement to end extreme alterations in clothing and other ads featuring women and girls might actually gain some momentum. At the very least, retailers do themselves no favors when they feature images of women with ridiculous proportions that invite not just scrutiny but outright scorn. More importantly, there is evidence that the practice really is unhealthy.