The Before and After Con Job
May 19, 2008 | By admin
Have you ever seen a set of before and after photos and thought to yourself, Wow, that product must really work! It’s difficult to find fault in a product’s effectiveness when the evidence is so compelling.
Yet the hair loss industry has been duping consumers for decades with photographs that tell stories of success but are based in nothing more than sheer and utter lies.
Nowadays, most consumers are aware of photo-retouching software and understand that images can be manipulated and touched up to resemble something other than reality. However, when an ad proudly declares that the photos haven’t been altered in any way, what’s a consumer to think? The photos must be real and therefore the product must really work!
Wrong.
Even without fancy software, it’s not difficult for photos to be taken in a manner that can mislead the public. Illusions are easily created through simple photography techniques such as lighting and angles.
The American Hair Loss Association and Spencer Kobren’s The Bald Truth radio program recently published a video that depicts how lighting and angles can make the same head of hair appear sparse and balding in one photo, but thick and luxurious in another.
Spencer Kobren explains that a flash can create shadows, which make the hair appear to be thicker, or the flash can be used to generate a glare that resembles a shiny bald spot.
This two and a half minute video will forever change the way you look at before and after photos and it will definitely affect how you make choices when buying products that promise to change the way you look.
Amazing, isn’t it? While this advertising trickery is rampant in the hair loss industry, it is common in many other industries as well. Please share this video with family and friends and help others become smarter consumers.
Technorati Tags: after, American Hair Loss Association, before, hair loss, hair transplant, photos, spencer kobren, the bald truthComments
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