Victoria’s Secret is not exactly a retailer that’s championed for their diversity. Although they do often feature women of color in their ads and as wing-wearing models marching down the runway at their annual holiday show, the body types are always the same: very long and very lean.
Now though, three UK students say the bra-and-panty brand has crossed the line with their latest marketing campaign, one they say sends an “unhealthy and damaging message” about body image.
The retailer recently rolled out a new Body bra line, and with it, new ads of each style as seen on the likes of Jasmine Tookes, Lily Aldridge and several other super skinny models. But across their bodies appears the phrase “The Perfect ‘Body.'”
The juxtaposition of the word “Perfect” and lineup of the women used in the ad triggered the three students – Frances Black, Gabriella Kountourides and Laura Ferris – to start an online petition urging VS to apologize and to spread the message on social media using the #iamperfect hashtag.
The petition, which already has almost 4,000 signatures, reads:
All this does is perpetuate low self-esteem among women who are made to feel that their bodies are inadequate and unattractive because they do not fit into a narrow standard of beauty. It contributes to a culture that encourages serious health problems such as negative body image and eating disorders.
This marketing campaign is harmful. It fails to celebrate the amazing diversity of women’s bodies by choosing to call only one body type ‘perfect’.
They definitely have a point—Victoria’s Secret bras are not one size fits all, and neither is beauty nor “perfection.” What do you think about the campaign?
SOURCE: Daily Mail | PHOTO CREDIT: Victoria’s Secret
