Singer and X Factor judge Cheryl Cole has been the center of a scandal since it was revealed that rather than using a certain shampoo she’s been hired to promote, she actually boosts her “weak, limp, lifeless” hair with extensions.
The Telegraph’s Kathleen Baird-Murray, however, points out that no one can really expect to look like Cheryl Cole regardless of what beauty products they choose to utilize.
She writes: “Frankly, I wish we’d all wake up. Shock, horror: using products such as the new L’Oréal Elvive shampoo advertised on television doesn’t always make you look like the celebrity advertising them.”
The Guardian’s Victoria Coren backs up these sentiments, writing: “…there is a furious outcry from those who have been shopping for Elvive shampoo in the hope of emulating Cheryl Cole’s shiny tresses, only to discover that she has hair extensions…. Why is anyone annoyed that she should advertise shampoo when she has hair extensions? Like rushing to complain that the British are philistines for supporting John and Edward, we are not trying hard enough (do we ever?) to see a plus side.”
Others have taken offense to what they deem to be a misleading advertisement. The Advertising Standards Authority has rejected 13 complaints of such, reports Brand Republic News. The ad, which first aired on October 9, features the former Girls Aloud member’s praise for the shampoo product: “My hair feels stronger, full of life, replenished with a healthy shine. It’s got its mojo back.”
Cole’s hairdresser, Julien Guyonnet, informed The Sunday Times that he’d given the singer extensions four weeks ago and that he’s done her up in fiber hair extensions in July. The advert actually features an onscreen annotation which reads “styled with some natural extensions,” which appears during two of the commercial’s 30 seconds.
According to the ASA, the ad doesn’t break any rules, and wrote an explanation to Sunday Times columnist Daisy Goodwin, who’d complained that the ad was misleading: “A problem would only arise if the ad did not make clear that [Cole] is wearing these extensions.”
