
Due to an eagle-eyed couch potato in the UK, L'Oreal is under fire for having misleading ads. A commercial for Telescopic mascara features Penelope Cruz looking long-lashed and lovely. It also promised that women could have "up to 60 percent longer eyelashes" with the mascara.
The problem? As the TV viewer suspected, Cruz was wearing false lashes in the commercial! She complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, which deemed the ads misleading. According to the Daily Mail:
L'Oréal told the ASA its product made the tips of lashes more visible, giving a lengthening effect.
It said: "Penelope Cruz was wearing a few individual false lashes inserted into her natural lashes to fill in the gaps in her natural lashes for a consistent standard of lashes."
Furthermore, the Beeb reports that L'Oreal said it was "common industry practice" to use artificial lashes.
Are you surprised? I'm not. To find out why, read more
Advertisements use vague promises all the time. Phrases such as, "Use our product and see up to 60% longer lashes" means that, well, you could see 60% longer lashes—or you could see 1% longer lashes, too.
Or when you see a celebrity gushing about the latest haircolor-in-a-box, it's not as straightforward as it seems. (Do you really think Sarah Jessica colors her hair at home?) While the celebrity legally has to have that haircolor in the commercial, it was probably applied by a professional stylist, and he or she probably used more than just one color, and there were likely deep-conditioning treatments involved as well. So it's all within regulations—but you're unlikely to get the same results at home.
In the case of Cruz, L'Oreal tried to prove its innocence by pointing out that Telescopic mascara was indeed applied over the lashes, but the ASA said "no dice." From here on out, L'Oreal has to add a disclaimer to ads whenever models are shown wearing false lashes.

















Peacocks
Del Gatto
Fendi
i'm not surprised! i never really thought the celebs used the products! or at least that i'd look like them if i did!
1I think the entire beauty industry could use a huge dose of honesty. I love makeup as much as the next girl, but I gave up long ago on looking like a movie star!
2why would anyone be shocked by this? helllooooooo
3As an Advertising graduate, I knew there are a lot of shams and tactics used in advertising campaigns however this case seems to be too radical. When you advertise a product, the product should always be used by the model. For example, a coffee ad, a model should sip the advertised coffee in the commercial. There are also some cases that are exceptions like skincare products---since you are showing the effects of the usage of the product, time constraints of a commercial allows the advertiser to use other means such as a model with no wrinkles can portray and give the message that the product works. But here, since they want to portray and give a clear message that "L'Oreal mascara" can give that kind of effect to your lashes, they should have just used their product on the models, and let digital imaging do its work
4Less than surprised. I was just reading this article about how pet food companies often put out misleading slogans and statements as well. Seems like there's no truth in advertising whatsoever!
5talk about annoying, how come actresses cooperate with these ads then?
6For the money Demon
7I don't believe this kinda "miracle" product ads. They absolutely look like falsies. The industry uses falsies in all mascara ads. And all ads are made just to "spell" people and make them go buy some. It could be a biscuit or a swimsuit or Coke, it doesn't matter. Loreal just did the same thing.
(By the way i hate this company because of the
animal testing system they use)
8come on.. no one is actually suprised are they?
9I'm sure this "eagle-eyed" coach potato wasn't the first to notice or realise ... he/she was the only one determined enough (and had enough times on his/her hands) to do something about it! Who cares, really? You know that 99% of the advertising out there is false and misleading, it's ADVERTISING!!! HOW is a mascara going to actually make your lashes GROW for a budget price??
10I'm not surprised, but I'll be curious to see what L'Oreal does in the future regarding its advertising... will they put a disclaimer, or stop using fake lashes on their models?
11not surprised at all.
12I agree RCL, What beauty product ad campaign doesn't use fake lashes, fake hair, etc.? It should be no surprise to anyone.
13I thought all mascara ads did that! It doesn't surprise me. Maybe I should just start wearing false eyelashes every day!
14i knew she had false lashes on the whole time- do you really think that just mascara will make your lashes like THAT?! crazy.
15honestly i don't think its a big deal i mean i would never see that add and be like her eyelashes are real and if i use that mine will be too- advertisers lie thats just how it is.
16I am not surprised at all. They are trying to sell you a product that will give you AMAZING results and make you look like a star.
17Giggle, retail_therapy does wear false lashes everyday! They look great on her!
18I'm not surprised, but it does bug me. Let me see them make Penelope's real lashes look even HALF as good and I'll buy this!
19L"Oreal should be slapped on the wrist for a lot more than false eyelashes! Maybe the ingredients in that mascara made some rabbit's hair fuller or something.
Anyhow...I see false lashes in mascara ads all the time, it does irk me, but it signals to me that either the product isn't that hot or the model just has crap lashes to begin with.
20Not surprised at all. Every commercial for cosmetic products is SO exaggerated! It sucks because you want to believe that this is the new, fabulous thing, but usually it's not what they led you to believe it was.
I have fine lashes, they will not look like that picture because of mascara...
21HAHAHAH...BUSTED!!!! but really, who thought everyone on television/in ads/in movies is really as good looking in person?? have you ever heard of airbrushing, photoshop, editing practices??
silly viewers, the natural beauty is for kids.
22I see no problem with filling in gaps in her lash line, but these really do look like a row of staggered-length falsies.
23having tried many mascaras,this didn't come as any surprise to me-my lashes never get as long and full as the way they're shown in ads and commercials!
24I know that ad companies & the cosmetic industries stage it all but it still makes me so mad when they position products as they did here. The mascara didn't create those lashes - they were fake. If anything they should be upfront and really use the product as was posted earlier.
25I never believe in commercials anyway...
26oh my god my whole world is rocked! seriously, this is what the world is coming to?
27It was so obvious that she was wearing false eyelashes.
28Oh please. Who really thought those were her real lashes? It's not right that companies do this, but consumers shouldn't be so gullible.
29My god, who is shocked by this? You must be incredibly dim to not know such things.
30Not shocked one bit!!! I always assumed that makeup comercials were pretty fake.
31Is there no honesty left?
32No wonder my lashes didn't end up looking like hers *said in sarcastic tone*
33I agree, there's seriously no way to get your natural lashes looking like that. But this is definitely a win for the consumer!
34What a surprise!!!!
35hahaha serves them right. I've taken legal and ethics in mass communiccation and I know that misleading ads are forbidden.
36don't all 'mascara models' wear false eyelashes?
37Why were the English so suprised.
38American's know the real deal
Kind of stupid because I guarantee every mascara ad on TV and print uses false eyelashes.
39this is pretty obvious...no one's eyelashes look like that using regular mascara! you know make up artists go to town on celebs to give them that look. i wish i wasn't so afraid of fake lashes..haha this guy i am dating actually has the longest and best lashes i've ever seen, they curl perfectly. i told him that, and i think it kind of freaked him out. if my lashes were like his, i'd never need mascara, or dream about fake lashes!!
40Wow. So commercials aren't reality? Shocker.
Jessica Simpson totally lied when she said Pizza Hut's buffalo wings pizza would give me the ability to fly.
41I have long, naturally curled lashes, so I could get results similar to mascara model's, if I pursued it. I have found one that works pretty dang well, but I had a bad reaction to it! Blast the unfair workings of the universe!!!
42I really do not care whether or not they use false lashes in ads. There is no way to know the effectiveness of a product without using it yourself. Anyone who actually wears makeup or even doesnt, should by now know that ads are enhanced digitally, or that extra product is applied (eg: false lashes).
People have too much free time.
43on the one hand, customers should be upset for being deceived by advertising, on the other hand, every rationally thinking person should know that commercials always exaggerate and they are to be taken with a grain of salt
44i'm glad but clearly the eyelashes are fake!
45Usually I don't buy cosmetics based on the commercial. I just go to the store and buy what I think will look best on me. Although I'm happy that someone exposed all of L'oreals fake promises.
46yeaaa hate loreal.
47Most mascara ads have the model wearing false eyelashes. It's obvious. Nobody's real lashes look like that.
48This is so ridiculous! Has anyone really ever seen a mascara ad & believed that the models were not wearing falsies? The first thing I think is, "Yeah, right. It looks that good if you wear the false eyelashes with it!" I've known this before I was even allowed to wear makeup.
The person that complained to the ASA must be really unhappy with herself or really bored.
49that is a big duh! Who ever pays attention to makeup ads anyways.
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