Not real photos on sites

[Bonnie]

I am starting to notice that on the websites that have “before and after photos” for their diet plans and diet pills, a lot of them say that the pictures are actually stock photography and not real customers. It’s usually in the “fine print” or is referenced with an asterisk that you look for later on down the page. I just can’t believe the gall of some companies.

[Bean]

That's awful! Is that legal?

[M-Stark334]

I'm actually quiet surprised to hear that. That may sound a little niave and silly, but I always assumed that if they were using photos for testimonials that they would be real. Is nothing real on the net anymore?

[Charlotte]

That's awful! Is that legal?

​I know! Isn't that terrible! It's not illegal if they pay for the stock images they are using and if they make a statement that says the photos being used are stock photography and are not the actual people who left the reviews. That said, this certainly doesn't make them sound very legit.

[suzieQ]

I don't think I've ever seen a legit photo on the internet, especially not from any company that uses photos of people to sell their products. Even if the people are real, they've been airbrushed by a computer so their skin looks flawless (too flawless in my opinion) and parts of their bodied are altered and shaved off to make them look thinner, more toned, or even heavier, etc. etc. Essentially the pic is altered to suit the needs of marketing. It would be nice to see something real for a change.

[Bean]

I'm actually quiet surprised to hear that. That may sound a little niave and silly, but I always assumed that if they were using photos for testimonials that they would be real. Is nothing real on the net anymore?

I did too! ARGH!

[Whirlybird]

I don't think I've ever seen a legit photo on the internet, especially not from any company that uses photos of people to sell their products. Even if the people are real, they've been airbrushed by a computer so their skin looks flawless (too flawless in my opinion) and parts of their bodied are altered and shaved off to make them look thinner, more toned, or even heavier, etc. etc. Essentially the pic is altered to suit the needs of marketing. It would be nice to see something real for a change.

Really? All of them are fake somehow? I think my faith in people just fell through the floor

[BigBobby]

I never believe any advertising anymore. It's just not real

[TracyK]

All very true. You just can't trust what you see on the net. It's not even so much that everything you are seeing isn't real, but you can't take it at face value. It's like you have to constantly read everything between the lines or in this case "see" between the lines (or maybe try to look for them lol)

[brightstar]

I think that things are just as trustworthy today as they have always been. The problem is that the internet puts so many more opportunities at our fingertips that the percentage of scams is just as high, but we just have access to far more of them now.

[Bonnie]

I'm glad that I'm not the only one who is frustrated with the behaviors of the companies that use the fake or altered photos. I'm also glad that I brought this up. It hadn't even occurred to me that this might be a practice on sites meant for things other than for diets. Clearly I've been too trusting!