Smiling faces of men and women in advertisements is not a new thing, it is done to make the target audience connect with the brand as the lifestyle of celebs in real is very different from the normal people. A South African author is enjoying her popularity on the posters of ads across the world but the creepy thing is that she has never sponsored any brand.
The tale started 6 years ago when she was a student and participated in a free photoshoot because she wanted some nice headshots. It was all going normally before one of her friends told her about getting spotted on an immigration poster in a Canadian newspaper.
So today I'm going to tell you the story of How I Ended Up with my Face On a McDonald's Advert in China – A Cautionary Tale. Six or so years ago, a friend in Canada posted a pic on my FB wall to say she found an advert of me promoting immigration in a Canadian newspaper. pic.twitter.com/QJ0nWpYNmQ
— Shubnum Khan (@ShubnumKhan) July 28, 2018
She was shocked to see this and recognised that it was her image. She was confused about why the ad agency had used her image without letting her know about it.
After some wtf moments, a friend reminded me we did a photoshoot a few years ago. When I was at university I heard about a free photoshoot by a CT photographer who promised us professional portraits in exchange for shooting us. It was called the 100 Faces Shoot & the photographer
— Shubnum Khan (@ShubnumKhan) July 28, 2018
She soon found that that the same photo was being used in several posters and advertisements promoting different products all over the world.
It feels like I sell everything! If I'm not welcoming immigrants to Canada, I'm selling carpets in NYC, leading treks in Cambodia, or looking for love in France.
Let's start with something light: here I'm the face for dental sedation in Virginia Beach. Innocent enough, you say, pic.twitter.com/KScqqLCoLx
— Shubnum Khan (@ShubnumKhan) July 28, 2018
But also, some hyper-pigmentation just doesn't leave and then you must resign yourself to your fate with a sad glare, pic.twitter.com/rJsKLSySxx
— Shubnum Khan (@ShubnumKhan) July 28, 2018
but then I get into the hard stuff and I'm all about getting rid of those pesky eye bags. Haloxyl is the stuff to inhibit facial muscle tightening and is the buzzword (obvs) in anti-ageing eye cream pic.twitter.com/38pzU18Ybo
— Shubnum Khan (@ShubnumKhan) July 28, 2018
Adding to this, her identity, nationality, and profession were also changed according to the countries in which the advertisements appeared.
Also, I love my ethnicity varies according to whim. I'm Seng Bonny leading Cambodian tours, Phoebe Lopez from San Francisco, Kelsi from San Francisco, Chandra from California, Christine from LaTrobe Uni, Dina M etc. pic.twitter.com/p105obTnLH
— Shubnum Khan (@ShubnumKhan) July 28, 2018
She hasn’t earnt anything for these advertisements. Also, she believes they are misleading, dishonest and falsely promoting these products.
So beside the fact that all of us were never paid for ANY of these advertisements, there's also the misleading and downright dishonesty of promoting these products. Eventually I contacted the photographer and said I didn't know I signed up for any of this, pic.twitter.com/ocpacnYd0W
— Shubnum Khan (@ShubnumKhan) July 28, 2018
Her advice to everyone!
life in a small town in S Africa not knowing about how her image is being used. So, if anything use my story as a cautionary tale. Don't sign up for free photoshoots, read what you sign and also don't believe most of the things you read on the internet.
— Shubnum Khan (@ShubnumKhan) July 28, 2018
Note that Shubnum is a South African author who is famous for her novel named Onion Tears that is about lives and journey of three generations of Indian Muslim women in South Africa. Presently, she is working on her second novel.
