Photoshop and False Advertising

Photoshop is an essential tool in today’s marketing world.  Using this technology allows businesses the opportunity to represent and advertise their service or product in the best light possible.  It can be a genuine asset to have the ability to make corrections or eliminate unwanted elements of a photograph.  However, such modifications, especially extreme alterations, raise an ethical issue.  With a heavy dependency on Photoshop, are businesses contributing to false advertising?  Making subtle corrections to a photograph or advertisement is reasonable, but the integrity of the original photograph should be maintained.  Photoshop provides marketers with the ability to dramatically alter a photograph, for example altering the body of a model, or adding an outside element that does not appear in the original photograph.  Businesses and electronic marketers must be conscious of ethical considerations when altering an image, or they may also risk harming their business.  For example, if a travel company is advertising a destination, they should represent that destination in a realistic manner.  Photoshop should not be utilized to add a mountain or a beach where it does not already exist because this is truly false advertising.  If a customer visits this destination and notices that the travel company falsely advertised the area, the business will lose the customer’s trust and future business.  Therefore, it is essential to utilize photoshop in an appropriate manner that will enhance the image without dramatically altering the true nature of the photograph, and the product or service that is being advertised.