• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, January 28, 2019

CVS, which last year announced a major push to rid its beauty aisles of airbrushed and photoshopped images, is boasting that it’s already 70% there. And key mass beauty brands, including Neutrogena, Covergirl, Olay and Revlon are coming along for the ride, introducing unaltered beauty imagery in new 2019 marketing campaigns.

The Woonsocket, R.I.-based retailer made the announcement at an event headlined by Covergirl Ayesha Curry, who stars in a new campaign featuring Outlast Lipstick. Neutrogena is running ads that include unretouched images of actress Kerry Washington. And Revlon is hyping ads that feature Ashley Graham, a model well known for her body-positivity messages.

“We applaud the brand partners that truly embraced this initiative and helped us in taking significant steps forward in our effort to change an industry standard that has an impact on the health and self-esteem of our mutual customers," says Kevin Hourican, president of CVS Pharmacy, in the company’s statement.

The goal is to be 100% retouching-free by the end of 2020. CVS, which says its channels reach more than 100 million consumers each year, has also added contractual requirements for all of its beauty influencers “to create and share only imagery that has not been digitally altered and does not use social filters.”

The company is also linking the effort to a cause-marketing program in support of Girls Inc. In February, it will donate $1 per purchase of certain beauty products, up to $300,000. The promotion includes items from Johnson & Johnson, which owns Neutrogena; Procter & Gamble, parent of Olay; and L'Oreal.

CVS’ progress report comes as women, particularly younger women, step up their criticism of the beauty industry. Dove, which last year announced its own campaign to ban retouching and adding a “No Digital Distortion Mark,” has said it based its decision on research that 77% of women and 70% of girls believe all images they see have been digitally altered or airbrushed.

Last week, American Eagle launched a Gen Z-created campaign including only unretouched images. And its Aerie lingerie brand has made real girls of all shapes and sizes an integral part of its marketing for many years. (That brand partners with the National Eating Disorders Association to promote healthy body imagery.)

Celebs are fueling the increased interest. Actress Jameela Jamil (“The Good Place”) recently called out Avon for an anti-cellulite ad, calling it “abusive advertising.” She tweeted: “Stop shaming women about age, gravity and cellulite. They're inevitable, completely normal things. To make us fear them and try to ‘fix’ them, is to literally set us up for failure.”

Avon quickly apologized and yanked the ads.