CoverGirl pulls 'enhanced' Taylor Swift mascara ad

A mascara ad featuring Taylor Swift has been pulled from US magazines following a complaint that it had been digitally altered to enhance the looks of the chart-topping country music star.

Taylor Swift, Photo: Corbis Images

The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus Claims said Proctor and Gamble, maker of CoverGirl cosmetics, "discontinued the advertisement in question" after it challenged its claims.

"The advertising at issue featured a celebrity looking up to highlight her long eyelashes," it said in a statement Tuesday, referring to Swift, 22, a clean-living role model for many young American women.

"Beneath was the disclaimer, 'lashes enhanced in post-production,'" it added.

The division, a self-regulatory forum for the ad industry, had questioned CoverGirl's claim that its NatureLuxe Mousse Mascara doubled the volume of bare lashes and that it was 20 percent lighter than "the most expensive mascara."

"Upon receipt of NAD's initial inquiry, the advertiser advised NAD it had permanently discontinued all of the challenged claims and the photograph in the advertisement," it said.

There was no immediate comment from Proctor and Gamble or from Swift, who in a CBS television interview last month spoke of how conscious she is of the influence she has among her fans.