Victoria’s Secret “The Perfect Body” (as defined by who?)
I’ve chosen to write about the advertisements for the “Body” line from Victoria’s Secret because the series of ads I saw for this line of products were the most stark example I could find in the array of advertisements from Victoria’s Secret that demonstrated the problematic messages this brand sends to men and women. As I sifted through Victoria’s Secrets ads equipped with my cultural jamming mindset, I was shocked by how highly sexualized and objectifying these ads are to women. I’ve seen them before, but I suppose I had never really looked at them. I was shocked by the way that these ads blatantly communicate to the viewer that “this is what the ideal female body looks like”. It tells men that this is what they should look for and lust after and it tells women that this is what they need to look like in order to be sexy and desirable. In this post I’m going to focus on two ads that particularly made my skin crawl that I specific looked at for jamming purposes, but there were certainly many others that could have been unpacked. For instance, one of the newest products from this line is called “Easy” that is supposed to be “easy to wear all the time”, but the ad is very clearly referring to “easy” in a very sexual way.

The first ad I want to unpack reads “a Body for Everybody”, however this image clearly shows that only one type of body is acceptable. By saying “everybody” but showing only the societally deemed “perfect” bodies, it devalues and ignores other types of bodies. It acts to create a hierarchy of bodies that places thin, light skinned, and dainty at the top and anything else at the bottom. This message is very harmful to the viewer because it reiterates the socially constructed ideals of feminine beauty and tells the viewer that these products are made only for “beautiful bodies” and if they don’t work for your body, then you are not worthy of wearing them. This message is especially problematic because this brand is extremely popular and is being marketed to an increasingly younger audience with their PINK line. The brand is also highly correlated with “sexy”.
So if this brand is being marketed as access to sexy to a young, vulnerable audience, but is also telling them that you have to look a certain way to wear out products, how is this affecting the body image and self worth of our youth?

The second image I want to unpack reads “The Perfect “Body”” and shows nine very similar looking women. This image clearly communicates the viewer that this is what the perfect body looks like and this is the body that their products are made for. Similar to my analysis of the first image, this ad sends a very problematic message to all genders. For white women, this “perfect body” is very difficult to “achieve”, for women of colour, it is impossible.

You’ve been Jammed: Victoria’s Secret Newest Disclaimer Alert
In case the messages portrayed by images were not already loud and clear, I have jammed them to reveal their cynical nature and sarcastically highlighted how ridiculously problematic they are. The first ad (A Body for Everybody) I have added some asterisks to clarify the meaning of the words “body” and “everybody”. I did this to point how exclusive this slogan actually is. Though they are technically advertising types of bras, what they are really selling is sex and their definition of beauty. I thought it was important to clarify in my jam that the word “everybody” actually only refers to a specific group of bodies that more of less fit with their definition of body (which I have also redefined according to the ad).

Again, with the second ad (The Perfect Body) I’ve added some asterisks to clarify to the viewer what this ad is really trying to communicate. Like the first ad, I’ve put an asterisk beside body to clarify what their definition of the word it. This definition at the bottom is supposed to highlight how ridiculous having the phrase “The Perfect Body” over nine very similar looking models is. I find it hard to believe that anyone looking at this would assume they are talking about bras? But if somehow, this was missed and the viewer did automatically think of bras upon viewing this image, I have also put an asterisk beside “collection”, to clarify that this collection is not for everybody.

We get so used to seeing advertisements and images of sex, beauty ideals, and objectification that we become numb to it. We look at ads like these so often that we do not even realize that there is anything wrong with them. I would like to see jammed images of problematic ads like these pop up on peoples news feeds and social media more often, to remind people that this is not real, this is ridiculous.