Can fashion magazines #KeepItReal?

The filmmakers behind last year’s documentary about the portrayal of women in media, MissRepresentation, are building on the movie’s momentum with a campaign targeting the beauty and fashion magazine industry.

In partnership with SPARKMovement.org, LoveSocial.org, IAmThatGirl.com and EndangeredBodies.org, #KeepItReal is a 3-day social media push directly asking magazine editors of major publications to pledge to publish one non-photoshopped image per issue.

The online Keep it Real Toolkit  is filled with campaign advice and shareable resources including stat cards, Twitter handles, hashtags, Facebook event, and specific instructions for supporters.

The challenge is broken down into days. Day 1: Tweet the message. Day 2: Blog it. Day 3: Capture the movement on Instagram.

With only a few hours of activity on Twitter, the project already has already snagged one high-profile pledge, Marie Claire editor (and AdWeek Editor of the Year) Joanna Coles.

Will Marie Claire and others fulfill the #KeepItReal pledge mandate, and for how long? Will one non-Photoshopped picture in a magazine filled with hundreds of altered images make a difference to girls and women? This may be the kind of campaign where the “conversation” around the issue is more valuable than the goal itself.

Thanks to movies like MissRepresentation, humour like the “Fotoshop by Adobé!” video, and popular advertising campaigns like Dove’s “Onslaught” and Makeup Forever HD’s “No Photoshop” ads, North American women are more aware than we’ve ever been that what we see in the media is generally fake or manipulated. Will knowing this change how we feel about our bodies?

Check out the extended trailer for MissRepresentation below: