Is Lane Bryant taking a swipe at Victoria’s Secret?
The plus-size clothing company has launched a new underwear ad campaign featuring the slogan “I’m No Angel,” which appears to be a jab at Victoria’s Secret’s “angels,” the term used to refer to supermodels in Victoria’s Secret’s ad campaigns and fashion shows.
The Lane Bryant ad features a diverse group of women of many different body types and sizes. In the ad, one of the models proclaims: “How boring would it be if we were all the same?”
Last fall, Victoria’s Secret came under fire for an advertisement that used the slogan “The Perfect Body,” and featured a group of predominantly white, very slim models. After receiving widespread criticism on social media, the lingerie company pulled the “perfect body” slogan and replaced it with “A body for every body.” However, the makeup of the models in the campaign remained the same as it was previously -- mostly white, and all skinny.
The fashion industry has also been under scrutiny recently for promoting unrealistic body ideals for women. France recently passed a new law banning too-thin models in advertising and on runways, and Italy, Spain, and Israel already have similar laws on the books.
The hashtag #ImNoAngel has been mentioned over 7,000 times on Twitter since the campaign launched, and the campaign has received positive feedback from many social media users who appreciated Lane Bryant's use of more diverse models. "Seriously LOVING the @lanebryant #ImNoAngel campaign -- VS has presented a narrow standard of sexiness for too long," said one Twitter user. "Shout out to @LaneBryant for the #ImNoAngel campaign. Very relevant and necessary," wrote another.
Many of the models in the campaign also posted about it on social media, with model Ashley Graham posting that "Beauty is beyond size" on her Instagram account:
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAAGFBMVEUiIiI9PT0eHh4gIB4hIBkcHBwcHBwcHBydr+JQAAAACHRSTlMABA4YHyQsM5jtaMwAAADfSURBVDjL7ZVBEgMhCAQBAf//42xcNbpAqakcM0ftUmFAAIBE81IqBJdS3lS6zs3bIpB9WED3YYXFPmHRfT8sgyrCP1x8uEUxLMzNWElFOYCV6mHWWwMzdPEKHlhLw7NWJqkHc4uIZphavDzA2JPzUDsBZziNae2S6owH8xPmX8G7zzgKEOPUoYHvGz1TBCxMkd3kwNVbU0gKHkx+iZILf77IofhrY1nYFnB/lQPb79drWOyJVa/DAvg9B/rLB4cC+Nqgdz/TvBbBnr6GBReqn/nRmDgaQEej7WhonozjF+Y2I/fZou/qAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;"></div></div> <p style=" margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;"> <a href="https://instagram.com/p/1IlC72TZ4q/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">I redefine sexy by stating that Beauty Is Beyond Size!! Share your definition of sexy and hashtag #ImNoAngel with @lanebryant #beautybeyondsize #iamsizesexy</a></p> <p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;">A photo posted by A S H L E Y ✨ G R A H A M ™ (@theashleygraham) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2015-04-06T12:48:33+00:00">Apr 6, 2015 at 5:48am PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>'