The advertisement that featured the slogan “the perfect body” over an image of 10 supermodels has suddenly disappeared from the company’s website.
The image has remained the same but the words have changed to: “A body for every body.”
The new Victoria’s Secret ad.
The new Victoria’s Secret ad.
The new Victoria’s Secret ad.
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The advertisement became the target of a Change.org petition that has garnered almost 29,000 signatures at the time of writing. The petition requests that Victoria’s Secret apologise and “take responsibility for the unhealthy and damaging message that their ‘Perfect Body’ campaign sends out about women’s bodies and how they should be judged.
“We would like Victoria’s Secret to change the wording on their advertisements for their bra range Body, to something that does not promote unhealthy and unrealistic standards of beauty, as well as pledge to not use such harmful marketing in the future.”
The new slogan appears to be an attempt to meet this petition’s demands.
Another underwear brand, Dear Kate, capitalised on the outcry by releasing its own “perfect body” ad, featuring women of a diverse range of shapes, sizes and colours.
The Dear Kate ad that mimics Victoria’s Secret.
“Through this photo, we showcase women who are often neglected by the media and traditional retailers,” the Dear Kate website says.
“We show the multitude of shapes perfect bodies can take. We stand with the petition of Gabriella Kountourides, Laura Ferris, and Frances Black for Victoria’s Secret to apologize and amend the wording on their advertisements for the “Body” bra.
The original Victoria’s Secret slogan is still reportedly on posters in Victoria’s Secret stores in the UK, and the company has yet to make a statement about the campaign.
