I love you, you're perfect, now change
Is shirtless wonder Matthew McConaughey changing his image? Or did Dolce &Gabbana go too far?
If Dolce & Gabbana wanted to present Matthew McConaughey in his natural state, they would have photographed him on Venice Beach, shirtless and preferably playing the bongos.
But that would hardly work for new D&G fragrance The One Gentleman. Instead we have Mr. McConaughey cleaned up and tux-clad, ever so slightly playing with his bow tie, as if to say "Should we go to this fabulous gala, or should I take off this Italian suit and ravish you?"
Hey, I'm not complaining. He looks gorgeous. What he doesn't look like is Matthew McConaughey. In addition to the departure from his typical all-American bro style, the ad seems to have photoshopped everything recognizable out of his face.
Compared to McConaughey's last Dolce & Gabbana cologne ad, for 2008's The One, the new picture slims his face and neck noticeably, and makes him look overall much more svelte than muscled. Gone is the tell-tale stubble, the opened button, even the cocksure stance. I'm all for celebrities tweaking their appearance to fit the needs of the people paying them seven-figure spokesperson deals.
But if D&G wanted a slim, suited lothario, surely Jon Hamm or Neil Patrick Harris or Clive Owen was available. What's the point of paying a movie star price for McConaughey and then apparently editing him almost past recognition?
The same question came up last week when London Fog posted its new ad campaign with Mad Men's lovely Chistina Hendricks, with (almost) all of Hendricks' famous curves whittled away. When the photo shoot candids emerged, it became even more obvious that the retoucher had not just taken inches of Hendricks' frame but had totally reshaped her covetable figure.
Look, Dolce & Gabbana, Matthew McConaughey was the Sexiest Man Alive. Call off your retouchers (but leave the tux).