The Real You is Sexy

American Eagle starts off Spring 2014 with a bold move as it says goodbye to Photoshop. In the most recent Aerie lingerie advertisements, models are not retouched and “imperfections” are on display. Aerie brand representative Jenny Altman said on Good Morning America, “We left beauty marks, we left tattoos, what you see is really what you get with our campaign.”

“We’re hoping to break the mold…We hope by embracing this that real girls everywhere start to embrace their own beauty,” explained Jenny Altman

Aerie wants to promote more realistic standards of beauty for their teen and preteen customers. The demographic of Aerie is women ages 15-21. Aerie realizes that these high school and college women’s sense of confidence and beauty are greatly influenced by the media. This new campaign promotes real women with real bodies.

Personally, I don’t think this ad is going to fix all of our generation’s body image problems, but I do think that it is a step in the right direction. We’ve seen arguments about ‘real’ women in the media and people fighting over which size is better and whether curvy women are more real than skinny women. I love Aerie’s campaign because it is simple. It promotes real women and that means all women, and nobody is excluded. 

This campaign is especially inspiring at a place like BC, where issues of beauty, body image and confidence are always in your face. We could take to mind Aerie’s message: The Real You Is Sexy. If we remember that and stop stressing, we will all be much happier.

Thank you, Aerie, for the bold move.

Does this campaign inspire you? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment!

Article Sources:

Aerie’s Unretouched Ads ‘Challenge Supermodel Standards’ For Young Women

American Eagle Stops Photoshopping Models for New Lingerie Campaign

Photo Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/17/aerie-unretouched-ads-photos_n_4618139.html

• BC body image
• BC Health and Fitness