Victoria's Secret Acknowledges Outrage, Alters Its 'Perfect Body' Ad

Victoria’s Secret should’ve known (and probably did) that it was getting into ugly territory when it launched a campaign called “The Perfect Body.” The ensuing negative press—which came in all shapes and sizes, heh—has compelled the overpriced lingerie company to alter its slogan to read: “A Body for Every Body.”

The Victoria’s Secret photo that initiated the outrage featured a group of slim models, along with the tagline: “The Perfect Body.” This led to a petition demanding that the brand apologize for the campaign. Dear Kate also recreated the ad using various body types.

Victoria’s Secret took notice and has changed the wording on their website, though as BuzzFeed points out, “Posters in stores currently still have ‘The Perfect Body.'” Also:

Victoria’s Secret didn’t release a formal statement about the tagline change, but the change was noticed by campaigners on Thursday morning.

We could just avoid the use of the word “perfect” to describe a body, but maybe “Pretty Good Body, In My Opinion!” doesn’t have the right oomph. Any smart ad executive would foresee a backlash from a body campaign solely featuring thin women. It would otherwise be a major marketing oversight. A more likely case is that the historically non-inclusive Victoria’s Secret expected this and just didn’t care, or think that it would affect their profits.