CVS Beauty Mark

First it was cigarettes...CVS discontinued all sales of tobacco products to better promote better health. I'm sure it took a big hit in sales and profits, but CVS was looking at the bigger picture of health.

Now it's beauty products...CVS just announced that it will no longer use retouched photography to promote any of its own branded beauty products. And it's encourages other brands to do the same. How can they do this? Well CVS is one of the biggest homes for beauty sales so they have the volume and the clout to pull it off.

CVS is calling the initiative Beauty Mark! A watermark will appear on imagery that is true to form and that has not been altered. Clever name. All CVS brand beauty products will have a Beauty Mark. For those other brands who still use altered images, CVS plans to label those as not in compliance with their policy. That’s a wow, and likely a deterrent to sales.

CVS may take another hit to sales and profits as a result, but I guess it’s again looking at the bigger picture of health as in positive perceptions of natural beauty and aging. Enhancing self esteem. Avoiding misleading and damaging stereotypes of unattainable beauty.

This isn’t the first of its kind, so my belief is that this is here to stay and we’ll see others follow. We’ve regulation of this sort in parts of Europe and even Getty Images recently banned the submission of photos that have been photoshopped for weight. Bravo!

As someone who has worked in the industry my entire career, CVS is making a pretty radical move. Many are saying it's way over due. Perhaps. I for one can't wait to see how it all plays out.

What’s your experience? JIM