The original ad:
Victoria Secret, “Perfect Body”/”A Body for Every Body” Campaign, 2014
Analysis of the original ad and the ‘problem’ I am addressing with my jamming:
The primary slogan on the original ad states “A body for every body”. However, the ad essentially only portrays one type of body: a “perfect” white woman’s body, posed “sexy” for male pleasure. Eight of the ten models in the picture appear to be white/Caucasian, and although there are two women of colour, there are no Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern, or Indigenous women in the picture. Six of the ten models have blond hair, and all ten are tall and skinny. All models have matching bras and panties on, are smiling or have a “sassy” expression, and have no visible blemishes, tattoos, piercings, scars, or disabilities. The models are all perfectly tanned, their make-up is done well, and they are posed rather than appearing natural.
Under the primary slogan is a secondary slogan: “Perfect fit. Perfect comfort. Perfect soft.” Although I imagine that this slogan is essentially intended to be describing the bras, I believe it is also subtle messaging about how women should be. “Perfect fit” can mean thin or skinny; “perfect comfort” sends the message that women should be quiet, meek, and exist to bring comfort to men; and “perfect soft” can be interpreted as saying women should be soft, sweet, and not distracting.
There is a multiplicity of problems within this ad, and I tried to point out each of them in at least one way. These include: racial stereotyping of what a “perfect” woman’s skin colour should be, body image shaming and stereotyping of what a “perfect” woman’s body should look like, reinforcing cisheteronormativity, and subtly stating what a woman’s place should be – quiet, existing for male pleasure and comfort.
The bottom portion of the ad includes styles of the bras the models are wearing, such as “racerback” or “push up”.
My culture jam:
Avery Wrenne, “A Body for Every Body*”, Culture Jam, 2020
Explanation of my Jamming philosophy:
My culture jam intended to state in the ad the subtle and not-so-subtle messages that the ad is portraying through its imaging and wording. My alteration worked to reveal the multiplicity of stereotyping, unhealthy, and harmful marketing and messaging with which the original ad began. It also aspired to invoke how unrealistic and unhealthy ads such as this can be.
To the primary slogan, I added an asterisk, with a note at the bottom. “A body for every body” is then noted to include: “As long as you’re a sweet, sexy, tall, skinny, able-bodied, cisheteronormative white female with no blemishes, tattoos, or piercings and who exists solely for male pleasure”.
I erased the secondary slogan, changing the wording to reveal the harmful subtle messaging: “Perfectly skinny. Perfectly demure. Perfectly heteronormative.”
I replaced the bottom portion of the ad, from its original listing of styles of bras, to state other parts of the messaging the wording and imaging of the ad carries. These include “Long line of colonizers” instead of “Long line demi”, “Perfectly fatphobic” instead of “New! Unlined demi”, “Blondes have more fun” instead of “Perfect coverage”, “Perfectly bony” instead of “Demi”, “Racerback to the 1800s” instead of “Racerback”, “New! Push up disordered eating” instead of “Wireless”, “Perfectly tan” instead of “Multi-way”, “Push up cisnormativity” instead of “Perfect shape”, “New! Racerback to size 0” instead of “New! Perfect comfort demi push-up” and “Push up the patriarchy” instead of “Push up”. With these changes, I highlighted the unhealthy “perfect” body image that is promoted, the cisheteropatriarchal expectations of women, and the history of colonial violence and how that has effect how we interpret the “perfect woman”.