CVS Pharmacy commits to new post-production beauty image standards

By

Robin Driver

Published
Jan 16, 2018

CVS Pharmacy, the retail division of Woonsocket, Rhode Island-based healthcare company CVS Health, announced this Monday that it would be introducing a number of new standards for post-production alterations made to the beauty images it produces for its stores, website and marketing materials.
 

The commitment includes the promise that, by the end of 2020, transparency will be required for any beauty image that has been materially altered.
 
At the other end of the scale, unaltered images will feature a “CVS Beauty Mark”, a watermark that the retail pharmacy chain will introduce to draw attention to natural imagery. The aim is to help consumers differentiate between authentic images and those that have been materially altered.

“Materially altered” in this context is taken to mean any post-production changes made to photographs that alter a person’s shape, size, proportion, skin or eye color, wrinkles or other individual characteristics.
 
In a release, Helena Foulkes, President of CVS Pharmacy and Executive Vice President, CVS Health commented, "The connection between the propagation of unrealistic body images and negative health effects, especially in girls and young women, has been established,” before reemphasizing the brand’s commitment to helping its customers stay healthy.  
 
 "We've reached out to many of our beauty brand partners,” Foulkes added, “many of whom are already thinking about this important issue, to work together to ensure that the beauty aisle is a place that represents and celebrates the authenticity and diversity of the communities we serve."
 
Girls Inc. President & CEO Judy Vredenburgh praised the move, saying “Girls Inc. applauds CVS Pharmacy's leadership commitment to showcase and celebrate beauty in all of its forms.”
 
CVS Pharmacy’s commitment is part of a much wider trend – led in large part by the redoubled public scrutiny that social media subjects brands to – pushing for greater transparency and diversity in the beauty and fashion industries. Inclusivity has become something of a watchword over the last year, with brands increasingly looking to celebrate, rather than edit out, models’ differences in marketing materials.
 
In October of last year, for example, Diandra Forrest became the first model with albinism to be the face of a major cosmetics brand and, earlier this month, American Apparel revealed a diverse and empowering rebrand, vowing to feature minimal retouching in future campaign photos.
 
CVS Pharmacy is America’s leading retail pharmacy, operating over 9,700 locations, as well as online through its e-commerce site. It was the first pharmacy in the US to receive the Community Pharmacy accreditation from URAC, a health care accreditation organization that establishes quality standards for the industry.
 
Beauty imagery produced by CVS Pharmacy will start featuring the CVS Beauty Mark in 2018, with complete transparency concerning images that appear in the chain’s beauty aisles slated for the end of 2020.