This article contains syndicated content from First & Ten, a member of Her Campus’ InfluenceHer Collective.
Whether you’re scrolling on social media, watching television or walking through the beauty aisle, it’s common to come across photos or advertisements that have been altered and not even know it. Sadly, this can lead young women to be influenced by an unrealistic representation of beauty and develop negative feelings about their appearance. But our culture is changing and as we start to value realness, it’s important that we represent beauty as it really is: unaltered. That’s why CVS Pharmacy pledged to take a stance on transparency in advertising and celebrate authentic beauty.
CVS Pharmacy has long offered all the brands you know and love as well as new, emerging ones. They are constantly innovating in their aisle, which just shows how committed they are to bringing customers what they want (*ahem* transparency). In January 2018, CVS Pharmacy made a commitment to creating new, more transparent standards for beauty imagery and, as part of their Beauty Unaltered campaign, introduced the Beauty Mark.
When you walk through the CVS beauty aisle, you’ll see the Beauty Mark on photos that haven’t been digitally altered, and if the image has been modified, it is visibly labeled as “digitally altered.” As of today, the majority of beauty images featured are Beauty Mark compliant, even national beauty brands’ imagery.
Beauty influencer Meg Moran applauds CVS Pharmacy’s commitment to its customers and for looking at beauty through a mental health lens, writing, “I love that they made a commitment to not materially alter the beauty imagery they create... When you go into CVS stores, you’ll see the Beauty Mark used to highlight imagery that hasn’t been materially altered and images that have been altered will be clearly labeled. So ladies, now you know exactly what you’re looking at! … I love what CVS is doing with their Beauty Unaltered campaign. Let’s all be real about our flaws, because that’s what makes us unique! We are all beautiful inside and out.”
In addition to promoting healthy beauty standards, CVS Pharmacy also has incredible beauty deals. The CVS Beauty Club is the fastest way to earn rewards: when you spend $30 on beauty products, you receive $3 back (new face mask, anyone?).
We commend CVS Pharmacy for focusing on the mental health and self-esteem effects of beauty advertising and taking this significant step toward changing the industry standard.
