Congressional Briefing on Truth In Advertising: The FTC's Role In Protecting Consumers from "Photoshopped" Ads

                                                                                     

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Seth Matlins

(310) 266-4545

March 4, 2014

           

Congressional Briefing to Focus on “Photoshopped” Ads as False Advertising

The Eating Disorders Coalition, Seth Matlins and the Brave Girls Alliance, will host a Congressional briefing, Thursday, April 3^rd at 12:00 p.m. in 210 Cannon House Office Building.  The briefing will be sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and will be titled “Truth in Advertising: The FTC’s Role in Protecting Consumers from “Photoshopped” Ads” and will discuss the mental, emotional, physical and economic health consequences of "Photoshopped" advertising.

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen has long been a protector and advocate for women and girls, the two populations most at-risk from these common practices. The briefing will draw on a panel of experts, and highlight that despite its ubiquity, when advertising changes the human body it is:

false and deceptive,  intended to and does influence consumer purchase decisions, and  inextricably linked to consumer damages and an array of health issues, particularly among women, and girls 6 – 18.

"The importance of demanding transparency in our advertising practices cannot be underestimated. It is a fact that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses, and have been highly correlated with Western popular cultural ideals. The practice of repeatedly and deceptively misrepresenting the human physique, as is commonly practiced using “photoshopping” in modern-day advertising, has enormous public health implications," said, Jaye Azoff, Psy.D., Eating Disorders Coalition Board Member.

"An epidemic of health and economic issues are being created by manipulated images in what amounts to false advertising," said Seth Matlins, who first began advocating for this type of legislative action with his wife almost three years ago. The briefing panel will include experts from  marketing and advertising, academia, and the Eating Disorders community.

The Eating Disorder Coalition is a non-profit policy and advocacy organization for persons with eating disorders located in Washington, DC. Seth Matlins is a father, marketer, and social entrepreneur, and member of the Brave Girls Alliance sharing the message that girls want, and deserve more empowered and healthy media.  For more information, visit www.eatingdisorderscoalition.org and BraveGirlsWant.com.