As part of its ongoing efforts to improve its public image, Lane Bryant did a little Twitter Q&A this afternoon. It went about as well as any Twitter Q&A ever goes!
For context: In recent months, Lane Bryant has been trying to climb aboard the body positivity train, now that they’re no longer the only game in plus-size town. First came the “I’m No Angel” campaign, which went viral and became annoyingly popular with people who’ll never know the incandescent frustration of trying to find simple and flattering shorts at a Lane Bryant circa 2009 because it’s the only brick and mortar store that sells your size. Then came the slight reworking, #PlusIsEqual, which definitely isn’t a retail neg, why would you even say that?
And so the brand (repped by CMO Brian Beitler) worked with Refinery 29 for a Twitter Q&A under the hashtag #AskLaneBryant. Their responses were in keeping with the tone of their recent marketing. For instance:
Another person wanted to know, “How do you plan to create more brand loyalty with so many options popping up for the plus customer?” Lane Bryant responded that, “Our belief is loyalty comes from sharing the same belief & we believe all women are sexy and beautiful.” Which is frankly patronizing—you think J. Crew plans to win back customer loyalty by telling shoppers they’re “sexy and beautiful?” By going on national television and talking about how it’s okay, don’t listen to the haters, preppy is pretty? No, they’re looking into launching a budget line and presumably thinking about the product mix.
At any rate, the best part of the Q&A was the response on Twitter. #AskLaneBryant was quickly flooded with questions from those who have perhaps actually known the frustration of spotting something that looked good on the hanger but oh goddammit it’s another fucking asymmetrical hem.
After the chat wrapped up, they tweeted this.
Quit telling me how to feel and what to do and spend your time thinking about what plus-size women want to buy.
Contact the author at kelly@jezebel.com.
Photo via screencap, plusisequal.com.