Victoria’s Secret ‘Perfect Body’ Ads Spark Outrage

Looks like Victoria’s Secret has some explaining to do!

The lingerie retailer has come under fire after releasing their latest ad for their “Body” line of bras. The ads, which feature the slogan “The Perfect ‘Body’” over photos of VS angels in their skivvies, are appearing in British stores and online in the U.S.

The word “body” is seen in quotation marks to point out the pun (it’s a type of bra offered by the brand), but customers aren’t too thrilled about seeing the phrase on top of women who have one specific body type.

The Twitterverse has spoken out against the company, informing them that every body is a perfect body.

A student named Frances Black, of Leeds University, started a Change.org petition calling for Victoria’s Secret to “apologise and take responsibility for the unhealthy and damaging message that their ‘Perfect Body’ campaign is sending out about women’s bodies and how they should be judged.”

“It’s really hurtful to women’s self-esteem. I’d like them to apologise and take accountability for choosing the wrong words for the campaign,” notes Black (who spoke to The Telegraph), who first saw the ads while walking through the Trinity Shopping Centre in Leeds.

The lingerie giant’s “Body by Victoria” bra has been around since the mid-1990s, though it’s never seem to cause a stir quite like this.

At press time, Victoria’s Secret has not made any comments regarding the backlash or the petition.

What do you think of their latest ad? Let us know in the comments below and click through the gallery above to check out more brand blunders.

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Victoria’s Secret Ads Promote ‘The Perfect Body’—and People Are Pissed

Photo: Victoria’s Secret

Lingerie giant Victoria’s Secret has never been known for being inclusive when it comes to a wide range of women’s bodies in its ads (most of us don’t look like Candice Swanepoel or Behati Prinsloo, let’s be real), but its latest ads featuring a bevy of supermodels with the accompanying text “The Perfect Body” have people pretty upset.

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The ads have sparked outrage since their debut, by proclaiming women have to strive for an unhealthy ideal, and now there is even a petition on Change.org, started by a UK-based university student Frances Black. “I just think it’s a really, really damaging message to send to young women,” Black told The Telegraph. “A brand like Victoria’s Secret is hugely popular in America and in the UK, and they mainly market to young women. It’s really hurtful to women’s self-esteem. I’d like them to apologise and take accountability for choosing the wrong words for the campaign. I’d like them to amend the wording and pledge not to use such harmful language in the future.”

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The petition, which already has hundreds of signatures, is worded: “Every day women are bombarded with advertisements aimed at making them feel insecure about their bodies, in the hope that they will spend money on products that will supposedly make them happier and more beautiful. Victoria’s Secret’s new advertisements for their range of bras Body use this tactic, and send out a damaging message by positioning the words ‘The Perfect ‘Body’’ across models of exactly the same, very slim body type.”

Do you think the ads send a damaging message to women? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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