KEEPING IT FAKE

Most Singaporeans polled prefer ads that have been edited to perfection. STEPHANIE GWEE and NORA FARHAIN report

Urban hit the streets to ask 30 men and 30 women whether they preferred the photograph of this week's Urban covergirl Hanis Hussey without any make-up or the heavily Photoshopped image of Madonna's Louis Vuitton ad.

And it looks like flawlessness achieved with the help of digital wizadry beats natural imperfection.

A whopping 49 of the respondents said they preferred Madge's look. While most who preferred it said she looked unnatural, they thought the image was more appealing due to better art direction.

However, 42 out of the 60 interviewed also said that too much digital manipulation in an ad can undermine the image of a brand.

Said Noel Yeo, 30, a public relations executive: 'When I'm looking at an ad for a beauty product, I should be able to believe that the product will deliver similar results for me. So if the image of the model in the ad has been heavily edited to begin with, the product's credibility is thrown into question.'

FOR NATURAL

'THE MADONNA AD IS NICE, BUT IT IS UNREALISTIC BECAUSE SHE LOOKS SO MUCH YOUNGER THAN SHE REALLY IS. PEOPLE SHOULDN'T BE ASHAMED OF GETTING OLDER.'

Lorna Campbell, 27, account manager

'PEOPLE NEED TO BE REALISTIC AND ACCEPT THE FACT THAT HUMANS ARE DESIGNED TO AGE.'

Fahmy Ishak, 33, manager

'A LINE SHOULD BE DRAWN WHEN THE PERSON IN THE PICTURE LOOKS NOTHING AT ALL LIKE HER TRUE SELF.'

Sheikh M. Zafran, 19, student

'DOES SOCIETY NEED A PERFECT-LOOKING ROLE MODEL TO REASSURE ITSELF OF THE POSSIBILITY OF FLAWLESS SKIN DESPITE AGEING? IF THAT'S THE CASE, I THINK WE ARE MERELY DELUDING OURSELVES WITH THE IMPRESSION THAT AGEING CAN BE AVOIDED.'

Lee Min Yee, 36, customer relations officer

AGAINST NATURAL

'IMAGES NEED TO ACHIEVE A CERTAIN STANDARD IN ORDER TO BE MARKETABLE.'

Zahira Hayati, 22, undergraduate

'IF THIS PHOTO OF HANIS WAS SOME KIND OF AD, IT WOULD NOT MAKE ME WANT TO PURCHASE WHATEVER BEAUTY PRODUCT SHE IS ENDORSING.'

Chia Min Lee, 46, teacher

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times.