The Last Word
PR and social media consultants Tingy Simoes and Nikki Milovanovic argue why its time to clamp down on cosmetic games aimed at children
On April 1, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons’ (BAAPS) press office engaged in the time-honoured tradition of spaghetti trees and flying penguins by launching an April Fools’ Day prank through social media. The stunt took the form of an image of a plastic doll accompanied by syringes and surgical instruments, marketed as a toy for girls. Whilst clearly meant to be light-hearted, the reasoning behind it was anything but. The ‘doctored’ image, posted through the BAAPS press office Twitter account, had the express purpose of shocking the aesthetics sector into realising there is a very real problem with a new spate of cosmetic surgery and non-surgical ‘games’ aimed at children. The post managed to ‘fool’ and sparked hot debates on body image, psychologically vulnerable groups and advertising. As absurd as it might seem, the pretend toy is sadly only one small manufacturing step away from the games already deemed markable in a sector with little statutory controls – a sector that quite often sees untrained practitioners performing injectable treatments on young patients. In the aftermath of the prank, when (according to custom) the BAAPS media team came clean at noon, we followed up with a series of actual, real ‘games’ we’d found online and through app stores in order to raise awareness of the problem. Marketed as girls’ games designed for ages nine and above, they had slogans such as ‘a game for beauty and skin operations to make princess look beautiful’ and ‘little boys and girls it’s your chance to become an expert doctor’. An even more graphic pastime marketed at girls aged 12+ showed cartoon patients undergoing rhinoplasty, accompanied by the message ‘every girl dreams of [sic] delicate face and stunning figure. If makeup can’t give the beauty you want…turn into a Victoria’s secret [sic] model at once!’ Players of the game can also alter ‘unsatisfactory’ boyfriends, who will become ‘a handsome male model immediately!’ Some of the apps even went so far as to pirate highly recognisable Disney characters from the movie Frozen, with the protagonists discussing liposuction due to ‘being fat’. Perhaps in today’s society one could argue children are hardly unaware of the term fat – but why introduce them to a ‘need’ for liposuction so early in life? Whilst the jury is still out on whether toys and games can actually ‘force’ behaviour in children, researchers from the American Psychological Association (APA) conducted a comprehensive review of research literature published between 2005 and 2013 which was focused on violent video game use. It claimed that there was ‘a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in pro-social behaviour, empathy and sensitivity to aggression’.1 Specifically targeting the young and vulnerable to feel bad about their looks is nothing short of aggressive bullying on a massive scale. Whilst teens may regularly be exposed to unrealistic images through magazines and fashion, further inducing them to consider irreversible surgical procedures are approaches the BAAPS has previously decried as socially irresponsible. In early 2012, the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Body Image revealed that girls as young as five now worry about their size and appearance.2 Over the past decade the BAAPS has campaigned to tackle this, singling out trends of youthful celebrities promoting cosmetic procedures, as well as ads on billboards, buses, TV and social media as contributing to the problem. The organisation has many times proposed banning cosmetic surgery advertising outright, or at the very least keeping it out of public spaces where it is likely to be absorbed by impressionable children. In 2012, the BAAPS explicitly addressed the issue through their news release ‘Mary Had a Little Lipo’, which garnered wide media attention, including on BBC’s Radio 1 Newsbeat. The aim was to protect children from surgery advertisements by submitting a new, strict advertising code to the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP).3 Research by Ofcom suggests one in three children aged 5-15 have their own tablet computer.4 With this technology playing such a huge role in society, it is impossible to imagine the trend of children routinely being exposed to unrealistic body image expectations going away any time soon; this only reinforces the need for public education. Although this toy was a ruse, it was an effective strategy in uniting the many (traditionally disparate) disciplines of the sector in collective outrage, so we can further examine how to bring about change through discussion, petitions, complaints, joint condemnation and above all, cohesion – rather than dissension. It is essential that practitioners work together and use every platform possible to disrupt the status quo that has encouraged the marketing of psychologically destructive materials – the very same conditions that have enabled young reality stars to be used in cosmetic surgery advertising campaigns; allowed surgical and non-surgical prizes given by companies who are well aware they’re abusing loopholes; and contributed to damaging the reputations of those who do adhere to ethical codes. At the BAAPS we do not think this is a laughing matter, but the ‘joke’ has served its purpose – the sector has once again been shaken wide awake to the larger impact of allowing the current state of affairs to flourish unchecked. Now it is time that we act in solidarity, to put these ‘games’ where they belong: out of reach of children.
Tingy Simoes and Nikki Milovanovic run the BAAPS Press Office
through PR agency Wavelength Marketing Communications.
REFERENCES
- American Psychological Association, APA Review Confirms Link Between Playing Violent Video
Games and Aggression, (2015) http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2015/08/violent-videogames.aspx - YMCA, Reflections on body image: All Party Parliamentary Group on Body Image
- BAAPS, Mary had a little lipo? Protect children from surgery ads, (2012)
- Ofcom, One in three children now has their own tablet computer, (2014)
