As you may have already heard, lingerie brand Aerie has pledged to lead a campaign where they use non-photoshopped images to advertise their products. In addition to their marketing campaign, the brand has added a new feature to their website which allows consumers to pick out a woman whose body-type resembles their own and see how Aerie’s products fit on each woman. American Eagle’s “Aerie Real” campaign has also led to a redesign of its stores as well, with newly added pick-me-ups gracing the mirrors in their fitting rooms (see below). A built in confidence boost whenever you try on their lingerie? Yes, please!
The revolutionary part of this campaign is not just giving each and every one of us confidence boosts (although I don’t think many of us mind getting a compliment when we look in the mirror). The fact of the matter is, the media has made men and women alike believe that they have to fit very specific requirements in order to be perceived as beautiful. The reality is that beauty doesn’t have a specific skin color, size, or any other statistical qualification.
True beauty is the way you feel like you’re glowing whenever you wear your favorite dress. Beauty is the extra spring in your step when you wear those shoes you love. Beauty is the feeling you get when you beat your fastest mile time.
My point? It’s up to us to define what beauty is. And while Aerie’s campaign isn’t singlehandedly changing the perception held by every brand or representative in media, the brand is acknowledging that change is going to have to come from the industry itself. And that’s awesome.
Are there flaws in the campaign? Yes. Some people say that while Aerie isn’t photoshopping their advertisement images, they are still using girls of a certain size or body shape. Others feel that they just decided to use girls with tattoos to portray “minor imperfections.”
I can’t argue that the campaign is perfect, because I know that it has its imperfections (Just like us, and that’s what makes us beautiful). However, I think it should be noted that American Eagle has started something radical and foreign to the modern beauty industry: acknowledging that the standards that have been set by years of photoshopping and editing are skewed and are harming the men, women, and children in their consumer bases. And for that, I think American Eagle should be applauded.