Note: You’ll have bad business karma if you use this post as a how-to

Impression: the first and immediate effect of an experience or perception upon the mind

Illusion: something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality

—from Dictionary.com Unabridged v1.1

Intro: A long-lived lie

“Cameras never lie” as the saying goes, but the adage itself is a fib. Decades before Photoshop, a decent photographer could make a mountain out of a molehill (and vice versa) with a simple shift in perspective.

Cameras most certainly can lie—as can digital photographs and illustrations—and sometimes they do. Here’s a brief study on how to show customers something far different from what they’ll be buying:

Don’t flaunt the Photoshopped

Beware the Dreaded MySpace Angles (PICS)
Dating Resource is an obnoxious blog with rude and hurtful photo captions—but the dude has a point. The first few comparisons are the strongest for his argument.

Impression or Illusion? Photographs of models are routinely “improved” to fix acne, bulges, and tan lines—sometimes at the expense of nipples and belly buttons. So what’s wrong with a close cropped image to hide a bad hair day? Or shed nine extra pounds…or ninety?

Maybe it depends on the purpose of the photograph. In general, profile avatars aren’t taken seriously. But what if the imagineered photograph is on Match.com, where the primary goal is to sell oneself as a potential mate? Are the initial photos highlighted by Dating Resource deceitful or are they just “accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative”?

Don’t take stock (photos)

9 things I learned about the world according to anonymous stock photo models
TheBestPageInTheUniverse is another obnoxious site with foul language, valid points, and effective examples. Three of the nine are on misrepresentation (3, 4, and 7), the others are more about his discomforts and disdain. The good news—and bad—is you’ll likely see these kinds of photos everywhere after reading this.

Impression or Illusion? Those three stock photo scenarios aren’t imaginary, just…uncommon. Maybe even unlikely. But really, would we buy their products or policies if they chose photos that portrayed the common condition:

• scowling, burnt-out technical support staff
• an island of women and people of color in an ocean of white men
• laptop users hunched painfully over a non-ergonomic keyboard

Is there anything deceitful about selling best case scenarios and/or wishful thinking? In accentuating the positive and sidelining the negative?

Note: My favorite is #2. I would probably be offended by it if I could stop laughing at the many truths it represents.

Don’t fake it when you make it

Fast Food: Ads vs. Reality
There’s a science to photographing food, and legal requirements that photographers use real food as we would be able to buy it. But the photo-food is so thoughtfully staged and carefully crafted that actual fast food can’t ever hope to match it. These comparisons showcase the gap.

Impression or Illusion? Seriously. I can’t begin to discuss these because there’s no end to discussing these. I bring the same questions, though: Accentuating the positive? Best case scenario? Wishful thinking? Deceitful?

I have one to add that I’ve long taken for granted:

Don’t delude in 3 dimensions

The Web Graphics Creator—3D eCovers
This application is touted as the ideal tool for creating photorealistic images of digital items that (obviously) have no physical form. The gallery proves you can create product shots that are flashy, fun, and completely fake.

Impression or Illusion? Is it deceitful for a vendor selling CDs or books to advertise a computer rendered image? I would tag it as an honest impression if it was a close match to the real item. Having struggled with product photography, I see good sense in using this software for that purpose: no camera, no studio setup, and no image editing. For digital products, however, I feel it’s a little shady.

To entice a software or ebook download, online vendors display colorful software boxes and hardbound books that don’t, and won’t, exist. I used to think them nifty, but now I feel they’re a bit of bait-and-switch or sleight-of-hand.

Why not work the “real” in ethereal? For software downloads, skip the renderings and display actual screenshots of the application in use. For ebooks, use the application’s 3D eCover feature to mimic the ebook in reality, like the image for How to Start a Business Blog. Note that Michael’s digital representation accurately embodies the format, cover design, size, and thickness of a hold-in-your-hand hardcopy.

Do you have an example of advertising that drifts across the line from a guided perception to misrepresentation? Or an ad that is honest about a product, maybe to a fault? Share it in the comments…