Black Student Photoshopped In French Art School Ads Targeted at US Audience

This story is about the French art school that chose the wrong adds policy. During the campaign that was meant to help a reputable institution raise its profile in the US, some pics were taken. Suddenly, it appeared that a few students became black after the “decoration”. What’s wrong with the school adds? Today, the Typical Student team will tell you more!

What Happened With The Pics?

It happened in the Émile Cohl art school in Lyon, France. The school officials said they were going to make some photographs to introduce the institution to US audience. However, the pics shared on the American version of the school's website are kinda different moment from the original one.

The Add Goes Viral

The truth appeared when one of the fifth-year students saw the retouched images. Both original and photoshopped pics went viral on social media after one of the students posted them of Twitter.    

"The photo was originally shared in a French animation studio by a [current] student of the school, and then broadcast on a Facebook group," Kelsi Phụng, who studied at Émile Cohl during the 2011-12 school year, says. "Desiring to preserve [the student's] anonymity, I am responsible for broadcasting the photomontage."

And that’s how the school comments the situation:

"The communication company decided on its own to darken the skin of some students to add diversity," Emmanuel Perrier, assistant director of the art school, says. "The communication campaign was made from the US."