More stores relying on hologram models instead of women..

 

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By Quentin Fottrell

Looklet

Virtual models.

These days, bending the truth in advertising goes well beyond the usual light airbrushing and color enhancement.

To save on costs—and perhaps assembly time—Swedish retailing giant IKEA created computer-generated images of its furniture for the new catalog, rather than hiring a photographer. By next year, a quarter of the scenes depicted in IKEA’s print and online advertising will be digitally drawn rather than photographed, The Wall Street Journal reported last week. In fact, IKEA says it is able to better depict its products with computer images than actual photography.

IKEA is not alone. Hollywood filmmakers increasingly create characters—and not just special effects—with CGI animation. And some fashion lines are finding that it’s less expensive to create the perfect specimen digitally than to track down America’s Next Top Model. These computer-generated realities may be cheaper, more appealing, and more versatile than the genuine articles. But experts say they could distort consumer expectations. “I worry that it will create an unrealistic picture that customers will not be able to copy,” says Earl Spurgin, professor of philosophy and director of Applied Ethics at John Carroll University in Cleveland.

Of course, the technology does have its limits. And it’s becoming so commonplace that some advertising agencies are dialing back their use of Photoshop and trading “scarily perfect” images for those with more authenticity, says Martin Lindstrom, author of “Brandwashed.” Cosmetic giant Dove has a long-running campaign for “real beauty” and, last June, Seventeen magazine announced a “body peace treaty” —a pledge to its young, female readers to be more open about how images get cleaned up or distorted. But such efforts at honesty remain very much the exception.

Aside from IKEA, here are four other examples of technology taking advertising even further from reality:

Virtual models

Bad news for supermodels: They’re being upstaged by computerized versions that look just like them--except even more perfect. Swedish fashion retailer H&M and French flash-sale site Vente-privee--which recently launched in the U.S. in partnership with American Express—both use computer-generated models in their advertising. The perfectly sculpted vision of the female body remains the same from image to image--but the skin tone and clothing vary. It saves companies from having to pay models to pose in different outfits, but some experts worry that it puts more pressure on young women to live up to unreal standards of perfection. “It’s airbrushing on steroids,” Spurgin says.

Industry pros say cutting costs should ultimately help keep prices competitive for the consumer and, as such, will become more prevalent in the fashion industry. “It’s like the classic paper doll but we do it with a really high quality,” says John Kock, co-founder and CEO of Looklet, a technology company in Stockholm that supplies the software to H&M and Vente-privee. He says he’s been approached by other brands—and one major U.S. department store. “This is just the beginning,” Kock says. A spokeswoman for H&M says it continues to use “virtual mannequins” online and real life models in its outdoor and print advertising. (Vente-privee did not respond to request for comment.)

3-D dream homes

Real estate agents often employ CGI for more than just a little virtual fluffing with vases of flowers and fancy cushion arrangements. “Rarely do many new constructions live up to the promise of the image,” says Michael Corbett, lifestyle consultant for real estate portal Trulia.com. He says 3-D images are often generated with pictures of the most expensive accessories available and can make rooms look even larger than the usual wide-angle shots long relied on by real estate photographers. “It’s a very subtle but effective enhancement,” he says. The landscaping is also not always finished to the standards seen in brochures, he says, especially if the developer needs to cut the budget. “They can throw beautiful mature maple trees in the front yard to create perfect landscaping,” he says.

To be fair, developers and real estate agents often have little choice but to sell their properties with digital recreations, experts say, especially when condos and homes are being sold off the plans. And the computer-generated advertisements can also inspire would-be homeowners by showing them what’s possible. Take a piece of prime CGI real estate in central London with a price tag of 75 million ($119 million). The listing makes it clear that the photos are computer-generated images, and that they project what the property could look like if money were no object--not what it actually looks like today.

Movie enhancements

Hollywood has been known as a “dream factory” since the beginning of motion pictures in the early part of the last century, but Warner Bros. Pictures managed to raise eyebrows in 2007 with a movie poster for the IMAX 3-D widescreen version of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” The studio wizards magically increased the size of actress Emma Watson’s breasts in the IMAX 3-D poster. No silicone was used--just some subtle computer enhancements. They didn’t go unnoticed. The poster quickly went viral on the Internet among Harry Potter fans. One online commenter called it “slightly disturbing.” Another wrote on a film website: “When you go to the IMAX theater, you go in expecting to see bigger and better. But who knew that was also true in the marketing?”

Warner Bros. Pictures released a statement at the time denying that it was an intentional play for a bigger male audience, as some critics suggested. “Unfortunately this image was accidentally posted on the IMAX website,” the studio said. “The mistake was promptly rectified and the image taken down.” Some experts say the use of CGI to further sexualize images in the fashion and entertainment industries is on the rise. “This does seem like the inevitable endgame to what has been an escalating amount of photo-retouching to create an idealized notion of beauty,” says Hany Farid, a professor of computer science at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. The ability to create highly realistic digital images of people further degrades our trust in what people are being sold, he says.

Simulated driving

Car makers also increasingly rely on CGI to make their four wheels look out of this world. As a video for Lexus shows, it can make a car look like it belongs in a Batman movie. Barbecue Design, which made the ad, has also done CGI for Mercedes, Toyota and Volkswagen. Los Angeles-based studio Blue Sky CGI has done work for Ford, Buick, Audi and BMW. “The use of CGI in car commercials accelerated since Ridley Scott directed the first memorable car mini-movie in the 1990s,” says Scott Oldham, editor in chief at Edmunds.com. The special effects are also designed to appeal to a younger market, experts say. “A lot of 20- and 30-year-olds like this stuff,” says Jesse Toprak, analyst at car-buying site TrueCar.com.

CGI car ads don’t always impress, however. Last year, Fiat produced a commercial featuring Jennifer Lopez driving around her old neighborhood in the Bronx. One problem: The ad was filmed in L.A. As we reported, some people were not impressed. Despite the kerfuffle, the ad boosted brand awareness for the Fiat 500 to 30% versus 9% before Lopez spun around in front of a blue screen, according to a Fiat spokeswoman. David Thomas, managing editor at Cars.com, says companies must disclose when the CGI car stunts cannot be replicated in real life. Nissan’s snowboarding truck came with a disclaimer: “Trucks can’t snowboard. Do not attempt.” “They’re just fighting for attention,” Thomas says.