Target Apologizes for Thigh Gap Photoshop Error

In the last several months, things have not fared well for Target. In December a huge security breach made many question the company’s competency. Now customers are outraged by a new scandal; once a...
Target Apologizes for Thigh Gap Photoshop Error
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  • In the last several months, things have not fared well for Target. In December a huge security breach made many question the company’s competency. Now customers are outraged by a new scandal; once again the Target Corporation must apologize to the public.

    On Monday night, several bloggers noticed an error with some of the pictures on Target’s website. These photos were for Target’s Xhilaration Junior’s swimsuit line. The images seem typical at first: young, skinny model posing wearing an Xhilaration swimsuit, but upon further examination, the photoshopping errors shine.

    There are two very noticeable problems with these photos: the erased arm and crotch areas. The people in charge of photoshopping, uploading the images to the site, and double checking the site for errors all failed on this one. However, many individuals find these photos alarming not because of the bad photo editing, but because Target felt the need to make this model skinnier.

    Many young women and girls constantly battle body image and self-esteem problems, usually brought on by the general media obsession with thinness. One of the current crazes surrounding those obsessed with being thin is the thigh gap issue. These thigh gap enthusiasts usually use social media sites, like Tumblr, to encourage and bond over their obsession with thigh gaps. Usually this fixation leads to unhealthy, sometimes anorexic and bulimic, behavior.

    By photoshopping even thin, young models, it creates unrealistic standards for women. Therefore, the general outrage against Target is understandable.

    Target immediately removed these images after news of it spread through social media and news channels. They then issued an official statement to Buzzfeed apologizing for their error.

    “This was an unfortunate error on our part and we apologize. We have removed the image from our website.”

    Despite Target’s apology, many took to Twitter to voice very strong opinions against this photoshopping models problem.

     

     

     

     

    If Target really wants to prove they’re sorry, they could follow Aerie’s unretouched ads’ example.

    Image via Target, Twitter

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