"The Perfect Body"

 


WHO/WHAT: Dear Kate, an underwear brand, released an advertisement titled "The Perfect Body" in response to Victoria's secret advertisement, "The Perfect 'Body'". The Victoria's Secret advertisement was strongly criticized by the public; it seemed to suggest that the perfect body is one that resembles that of a model. Dear Kate responded with an extremely similar advertisement, but instead of using stereotypic models to display their lingerie, they used women of all shapes and sizes to suggest that the perfect body is not model-like, but instead, unique to each individual. The object is Dear Kate's advertisement.

WHEN: Both advertisements were published in October 2014; Victoria's Secret's ad was circulated first.

WHERE: Victoria's secret advertisement was initially publicized on their website and in stores, but after the controversy arose, the two advertisements were unquestionably ubiquitous on the internet.

WHY: Dear Kate's advertisement encourages women to embrace their current body, which is consistent with the love-yourself-for-who-you-are mentality in the United States; it exhibits a variety of "everyday" women and claims that those bodies are "the perfect bod[ies]". In other words, it illustrates beauty as an entity that is not defined by shape, size, or skin color and that the concept of a perfect body does not truly exist.

The identity that it primarily explores is the average woman whose body deviates from the "ideal" model-like silhouette.

citation (images):

Bahadur, Nina. "Victoria's Secret 'Perfect Body' Campaign Changes Slogan After Backlash." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 6 Nov. 2014. Web. 03 Sept. 2016.