Influencers told to reject AI beauty filters in out-of-home ads by Dentsu’s Gleam Futures
Dentsu-owned influencer talent agency asks creators to hold their accounts to account for the use of unrealistic beauty filters.
Gleam Futures, the influencer management agency backed by holding company Dentsu, has urged influencers to reject AI beauty filters with a major out-of-home campaign targeting universities and London’s Harley Street.
The ‘Bold Influence’ campaign is the creator-facing part of Gleam Futures’ bigger fight against misleading beauty standards online, which it has taken to UK government today in the form of a 48-page manifesto.
The ads, created by Dentsu Creative UK, will run online and on 48-sheet and digital six-sheet poster sites. The out-of-home media plan is concentrated on shopping areas like Westfield and Oxford Street along with Harley Street, known for its cosmetic surgeries, as well as university student unions and music venues.
The talent agency’s managing partner Melanie Kentish is behind the campaign. She tells The Drum although it comes down to the government for legislation change, accountability also lies with users and influencers to ensure they are putting out responsible content.
“It might be that they have 100 followers, or it might be that they’ve got millions of followers, but I think it’s really important that we hold their account to account,” Kentish says. The agency has on its books Gemma Styles, Adele Roberts, Emily Norris, Anna Whitehouse (AKA Mother Pukka), Poppy Deyes – all its creators have agreed not to use AI beauty filters going forward. Kentish says their support will “start a snowball effect”.
The ads feature Gleam Futures talent with copy that reads ‘Bold celebrates ‘8 billion versions of beautiful’, ‘Bold is self-love in every shape and size’, ‘Bold is texture, fine lines, pimples and dimples’, for example. “The more we can show there are so many different versions of beauty the more we make that acceptable for future generations,” Kentish says.
Sue Higgs, executive creative director of Dentsu Creative UK adds: “We took the manifesto beyond digital, into the real world, where young people using these filters can see first-hand the mental health issues that they cause.
Kentish referenced the recent Dove study which revealed four out of five teenage girls had digitally changed their appearance by the age of 13 and 54% prefer how they look with filters.
“Unless you see someone with acne, unless you see someone who looks like you it’s hard to get that self-acceptance,” Kentish says. “We need to realize that there are a billion different types of beauty because when you can truly see yourself represented, then you start to feel comfortable in your own skin.”