Anorexic Ads Spark Furor

Gruesome photos of a naked anorexic actress on billboards across Italy are sparking controversy among health experts. The shots of French actress Isabelle Caro, taken by provocative photographer Oliviero Toscani, are featured in ads for Italian fashion label Nolita with a text that reads: "No Anorexia." The campaign was timed to coincide with Milan fashion week.

Twenty-seven-year-old Caro, who weighs just 68 pounds, said she participated, "even though my body arouses repugnance," to help fight anorexia, which she's suffered from since she was 13. Nolita says  the intent is to "show the reality of this illness." Leading designers, including Georgio Armani, support the ad; an anorexia expert called them "pointless and damaging,"  likely to trigger a wave of starvation among girls who idolize skeletal bodies. (More Isabelle Caro stories.)