This snap of the ad was posted to the mock site Photoshop Disasters last Tuesday — the writer crowed, "Make her head bigger than her pelvis! Do it!" Xeni Jardin at Boing Boing noticed, and made the comment, "Dude, her head's bigger than her pelvis." But that relatively mild criticism of the unbelievable ad garnered the blog's ISP a cease-and-desist letter for reposting the picture.

Note to Ralph Lauren: it's not an infringement of your copyright if content you own is reproduced for purposes such as criticism, comment, or news reporting. No, really. Look it up. The company more than earned Cory Doctorow's indignant response.

Photoshop Disasters apparently received a similar threatening letter, since its post — though cached, for now, by Google — has been taken down.

Who is this woman 'shopped down to a spindly creature by Lauren's minions? She's 23-year-old French-Swedish model Filippa Hamilton — Countess Filippa Hamilton, to be precise. She's a Ralph Lauren favorite — in fact, she's on the brand's website right now. Check out the terrible job the retoucher did when he or she cut a path around Hamilton's hair to change the color of the shirt:

Hamilton has been featured in various ads for Ralph Lauren since her teens; up until now, the brand has never Photoshopped her into the likeness of a Bratz doll.

And in this July, 2009, editorial for Russian Elle magazine, shot by Fabio Chizzola, she doesn't look half bad, either.

Ralph Lauren should put a little less effort into crafting cease-and-desist letters guaranteed to harness the Streisand Effect, and a lot more into the quality of its post-production.

Ralph Lauren Opens New Outlet In The Uncanny Valley [BoingBoing]
The Criticism That Ralph Lauren Doesn't Want You To See [BoingBoing]

Behold! Beyonce, ScarJo, Clive Owen, and their many celebrity friends go under the pointer, with terrifying results.


Jessica Simpson: Waist Not, Want Not
Much like Frankenstin's monster, Jessica Simpson is all misshapen, sewn together limbs on the September cover of Elle.

Marie Claire Editors' Revealing Reflections
We know the editors of the international edition of Marie Claire are more accustomed to being the photoshoppers than the photoshopees, but they should have known to check the reflection in the glass conference room table. Your unsightly (i.e. perfectly normal, human) faces are showing!

Jessica Alba: Whittled in the Name of Liquor
2008 was a big year for Jessica Alba. She lost all her baby weight! (Also, had a beautiful, healthy baby girl.) But everyone knows women with hips capable of birthing babies are not capable of shilling a fine liquor like Campari.

Britney Takes the "Circus" Theme a Step Too Far
Was the artwork for Britney's single "Womanizer" inspired by a fun house mirror?

Rumer Willis's Missing Hand, Jaw Bone
Apparently Walmart thought Rumer Willis would be the perfect celebrity for their ad campaign, as long as she got an entirely different face and lost that unnecessary right hand.

Scarlett Johansson Goes From "Curvy" To "Cartoonish"
Was Scarlett's waist Photoshopped for the August cover of Cosmopolitan, or are corsets coming back in style?

Kimora Lee Simmons Discovers the Fountain of Youth
Whoa! Kimora Lee Simmon's new fragrance Fabulosity will magically sculpt your arms and make you look 10 years younger! (Warning: May cause minor limb deformities.)

Lily Allen's Photoshop Makeover
Running low on cash? Why not ask these British mags to photoshop you a new lipstick color, or better yet an entirely new dress and body, like they did for Lily Allen?

Olympians Have Got Milk, Extra Hand
A phantom athlete lends a hand to the U.S. Olympic team in this ad for milk.

Is L'Oreal Guilty of Whitewashing?
Beyonce's skin looks unusually pale in this L'Oreal ad. Unless of course, you're reading Essence.

Clive Owen's Boy Band Days
Even dudes were not safe from the wrath of Photoshop in 2008!

Here's Maxim Mexico's version:

And here's mine:

The yellow dress seems to be added. In fact, that may not be Lily's body at all.

This image has not been touched up in any way.