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September 8, 2005updated 22 Nov 2022 4:44pm

Zest editor backs criticism of plastic surgery prizes

By Press Gazette

The
editor of health and beauty title Zest has backed plastic surgeons who
have condemned Zoo and Top Santé magazines for offering plastic surgery
as competition prizes, writes Alyson Fixter.

Zest
editor-publisher Alison Pylkkanen said she was surprised that Top
Santé, the relaunched Emap health title for 30-plus women, had “fallen
for” the trend for trivialising the seriousness of the surgery.

The
British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons said this week that
the move violated the industry code of ethics and was “an unbelievable,
dangerous and highly unethical practice”.

Twelve people have
lodged complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority over Zoo’s
competition, which encouraged readers to send in pictures of their
girlfriends’ breasts and choose which star’s cleavage they would most
like them to have.

Both Emap titles have refused to back down on
their competitions, but other publishers have said they would be
unlikely to follow the move.

Pylkkanen said: “Having surgery is a
huge psychological and medical decision and should be made in the
context of the right assessment and advice. I don’t think offering it
in a magazine competition will provide those things.”

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