Victoria's Secret is under fire for its newest bra campaign featuring the tagline "The Perfect 'Body'," suggesting on first glance that these women have it, and you probably don't.
More than 10,000 people have signed a U.K. petition calling for Victoria's Secret to "apologise for and amend the irresponsible marketing of your new bra range 'Body'."
"Victoria’s Secret’s new advertisements play on women's insecurities and send out a damaging message by positioning the words 'The Perfect Body' across models who have exactly the same, very slim body type," the petition notes. "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'."
Of course, the brand isn't literally saying its models have the perfect body. It's a play on words with the popular "Body" line of bras, and the ad copy clarifies: "Perfect fit. Perfect comfort. Perfectly soft."
But at a time when unrealistic body images are such a controversial topic, this tagline has understandably sparked some fires in social media:
Victoria's Secret - stop bodyshaming young women! #iamperfect Sign the petition here http://t.co/jB3049yIR1pic.twitter.com/u6wgbxvhpf
— Frances Black (@FrancesNoir) October 29, 2014 No such thing as a perfect body, @VictoriasSecret. Please, stop perpetuating this myth. Only harmful. #iamperfect
— Anne A. Wilson (@Anne_A_Wilson) October 29, 2014 Victoria's Secret, I am appalled. Frick you and your "perfect body" campaign SMH YOU'RE ALL PHOTOSHOPPED pic.twitter.com/PE49XSktJv
— O'Haggerty (@leerocket5000) October 30, 2014This year we've seen quite a few female-focused brands toss aside the whole idea of perfection. Aerie refused to Photoshop models, ModCloth pledged to be transparent about retouching, Dear Kate focused its underwear campaigns on "real women"), so one has to wonder if Victoria's Secret just made a tone-deaf misstep or actively decided to troll the competition.
