Let Us Praise Britney Spears for Exposing PhotoShop Mafia in Unretouched Candie's Shoot

Britney Spears' insistence on releasing unretouched photos from her shoot for Candie's alongside the edited ones is one of the best ideas in advertising this year. It will increase interest in the ads, in her, and teach youngsters a lesson about how fake the advertising world can be, all at the same time.

The move perfectly taps into the backlash against airbrushing to make models look impossibly thin. Best of all, the two photos show that the real Britney -- and realness in general -- is a lot sexier than the plastic stick-figure that Candie's turned her into for the actual ad.

Plenty of celebrities and brands have had the opportunity to make the same points. Demi Moore had a huge platform to do the same thing when untouched shots of her emerged from a Helena Rubinstein ad -- but the woman who once took on the U.S. Navy didn't say a word. Apparently it takes Spears to break ranks with the PhotoShop mafia that dominates fashion advertising.

Related:

• Why Fashion Advertisers Should Ignore Women Who Complain About Skinny Models
• Demi Moore Not Perfect Enough for Perfume Ad; Before-and-After Pics Show Enthusiastic Use of PhotoShop
• Ralph Lauren Strikes Again! Is "PhotoShop Disaster" Company Policy?
• A Second Ralph Lauren PhotoShop Mess Emerges
• Ralph Lauren Fired Photoshopped Model for Being Too Fat
• French Pols Want "Fashion Police" to Ban Retouched Models in Ads