CoverGirl Gets Lashed For Taylor Ad

Thanks to her relationship with CoverGirl, Taylor Swift has brought her youthful visage to the pages of glossy magazines everywhere. But there’s a new advertisement with our beloved T-Sweezy that won’t be appearing in print in the near future. Super sadface.

According to the New York Times’ Media Decoder blog, the ad for CoverGirl’s NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara was “enhanced” to make Taylor’s lashes look even more full. Then those killjoys in the Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division got wind of the doctoring and ruled it “misleading,” prompting CoverGirl owner Procter & Gamble to yank the ads.

The Times article explains that N.A.D. examined the ad’s claims and the implied benefits, determining that the enhanced photos wouldn’t provide an exact facsimile of Taylor’s lustrous lashes. Ads don’t typically get pulled for “airbrushing,” so it’s apparently a pretty thin line for what constitutes fraudulent advertising.

Which is strange, because let’s face it: advertisements, particularly in television, regularly “enhance” the truth in all manner of ways to exploit us. Like, oh no, can I really not get ripped abs without exerting any actual effort or thwart bank robberies using only a buffalo chicken sandwich? Now I suppose you’re going to tell me that it doesn’t work out between Kim Kardashian and what-his-name? Wait, don’t tell me. I want it to be a surprise.

In fairness, CoverGirl did add some fine print to the Taylor spot that reads “lashes enhanced in post production.” See? No harm done. I wonder if a generation of dudes wishes that Axe Body Spray had put fine print to the effect of “spraying Axe body spray will not make an army of scantily clad women cross the ocean for you”?

In other Taylor news, she gave fans an early Christmas present (via Instragram) last night (12/22) with the release of “Safe & Sound,” a collaboration with The Civil Wars that appears on The Hunger Games soundtrack. It is available for digital download in the iTunes store right now.

Also, these hamsters rule. Just sayin’.