Quote - XENOSo how would we classify the celeb's image on the cover of a magazine? Deliberate deception or purely artistic? The artists deserve a lot more of the credit. 

I thought about that.

 

In the case of a magazine cover -- the customer is purchasing the magazine: not the girl.  The image of the girl herself is no different from any other fantasy cover art that helps to sell a novel.  If the customer wants a magazine with a pretty girl's picture on the front -- then the customer has gotten what they paid for.  So nobody was "cheated" in such a case.  Most potential customers wouldn't be interested in purchasing a magazine with a cover picture which featured pimples and cellulite.  Such an image might be technically defined as "real" -- just like what people see in their mirror first thing in the morning is "real".  But most of us don't go out in public looking like that.

Deception comes in when the photoshopped image is attempting to sell a separate product such as cremes, pills, etc.....and claiming (or implying) that the photoshopped image represents actual results from the use of their product.

But to sell a picture of a model?  Even an air-brushed one?  That's not deception in the sense that we are discussing here.  It's no more deceptive than any other fantasy that you care to name.  The customer has gotten what they paid for: the picture itself.

I doubt that the average purchaser feels cheated because they don't see zits.

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