It comes as no surprise that throughout the years, social media and ads have almost always falsely portrayed the woman’s body in ways that are relatively unachievable. Most of the ads we see include small-waisted women with not a flaw in sight. Young women and girls who have grown up around these ads have been isolated to feel different or imperfect since they’re not the ‘standardized’ figure of beauty. This creates a negative impact on women since they don’t meet these societal iconic looks or proportions.
What regular women in society tend to forget is that most ads feature unreal, airbrushed, and photoshopped models. But most regular women are still left wondering why they aren’t ‘perfect’ or why their bodies aren’t normalized within society. A lot of ads have a tendency of relaying the message of “if you buy this, you’ll look like her.” This marketing method is creating a downfall in customer satisfaction and because of this, some companies are beginning to advertise to real women.
One big company that made a very impactful change within their advertising is Aerie. Aerie is a brand owned by American Eagle and mainly focuses on selling mostly unlined sleepwear and intimates. In 2014, Aerie launched their brand’s campaign called “Aerie Real”, which included a range of differences from other large companies. They do not airbrush or photoshop their images, and are more inclusive with body types,skin tones, and ethnicities. They have begun advertising women with real bodies. Aerie includes women with every body shape imaginable and even embraces the love of curves and imperfections, unlike their competitors.
Aerie has pushed away the social standards and started advertising women who are perfectly imperfect. They no longer airbrush over stretch marks, moles, or belly rolls. They have become extremely inclusive within their ads by using models with a large span of different ethnicities and who are short, tall, thin, and thick. They are even including models who have disabilities, such as Down Syndrome or those in wheelchairs.
The purpose of Aerie changing up the way their ads look was to reach a wider audience in society who would appreciate the outreach and realism of the models. Their goal was to reach the women in society who often don’t get recognition for their natural bodies and that’s exactly what they did. Many women have been making the switch from Victoria’s Secret to Aerie because of how authentic Aerie has become. Believe it or not, women actually appreciate authenticity when it comes to intimates, ads, and prices. And that’s exactly what Aerie is selling.
In addition to this article, if you have any unwanted bras of any size, shape, color, or brand, your local Aerie locations will take them off of your hands. In return, you get 15% off of your purchase that day and they will donate your bras to Free The Girls, a charity dedicated to helping sex trafficking survivors.