Tuesday, March 26, 2013 10:44:55 AM · by Responsibility2nd · 50 replies
Telegraph ^ | 03-26-2013 | Olivia Bergin
Posted on 03/26/2013 10:38:45 AM PDT by Morgana
At first glance, the line looks like it's for college students, with a focus on spring break beach essentials. But the new Bright Young Things line at Victoria's Secret is actually aimed at a much younger audience: teens and tweens.
Also on Shine: Victoria's Secret Helped Out During Superstorm Sandy
Parents are outraged by the spring-break themed ads, pointing out that the models look really, really young, and accusing the lingerie giant of sexualizing young girls. College-age women, on the other hand, are shocked that younger kids are interested in Victoria's Secret products at all. "Victoria’s Secret PINK is a brand for college-aged women," the company said in a statement on Monday. "Despite recent rumors, we have no plans to introduce a collection for younger women. 'Bright Young Things' was a slogan used in conjunction with the college spring break tradition."
Which would be fine, if a Victoria's Secret executive hadn't already said otherwise.
“When somebody’s 15 or 16 years old, what do they want to be?” Chief Financial Officer Stuart Burgdoerfer said at a conference in January. “They want to be older, and they want to be cool like the girl in college, and that’s part of the magic of what we do at PINK.”
It's also part of the magic of marketing. In the past, Victoria's Secret has featured artists like Marc Anthony and Sting in their super-sexy fashion shows; last year, teen-idol Justin Bieber was crooning as models wearing bras, panties, and stilettos walked the stage around him. As mom of seven Amy Gerwing points out at TheBlackSphere.net: "The not-so-subliminal marketing message was sent: I like Justin Bieiber, Justin Bieber likes Victoria’s Secret, and therefore I should buy Victoria’s Secret."
(Excerpt) Read more at shine.yahoo.com ...
After the overt sexualization, even deliberate perverting, of students in grade school level Pooblik Skrewel Collective facilities - might this unenlightened one as in what way one should be surprised at agency or corporate “sexualization of girls” behavior?
Not that a few micrograms of hormones does not induce behavioral predispositions which have kept parents of females both anxious and nervous since someone fed an apple to someone else.
young girls have wanted pretty underwear since they started making pretty underwear. nothing new here, just a marketing campaign. granted though, putting words like “juicy” or other suggestive themes are not appropriate for the youngest set.
I don’t know why anyone would be surprised by this.
As I posted on the other thread:
As a teacher and a mother I can assure you that the problem is not VS. Twelve to 15-year-old girls don’t have the money with which to buy these products, nor do they have the transportation to get to the stores to make the purchases. Mommy and daddy provide them with both. Parents want their kids to be cool. I know parents who supply alcohol to their teens because of the coolness factor they so desperately want their kids to achieve. VS is only supplying what is being demanded. If parents said no then VS would no longer have a reason to market these skivvies. I’m going to guess that if the girls wearing these we’re told no by their parents, it would probably be one of the few times they’ve been told no. When parents stop buying, VS will move on to something more appropriate. Until then, parents need to stop blaming society for demeaning women and instead take more active roles in their daughters’ lives.
thanks for posting this article
i just had to add, since it is about Victoria Secret,
that
I had dinner with one of the founders/owners or that store...
(very generous fellow, gives lots of money to charity)
anyway, he says that... he’s in a fascinating business...
where “the less product ...(material)..... we give our customers, the more they want to pay us for it...”
HA! He’s got a point there!
you can get perfectly good underwear for $2 a garment, and same will actually COVER you too, at Sears. Go into my friend’s store and see just how much (product, material) $2 will get ya...
HA HA!
I have zero problem with cute underwear for girls, however I think the ads and presentations are trashy.
You are making way too much sense.
As I said in another post - I see both rapists in dark alleys and certain corporate marketers as predators.
Its a matter of degree, but both want to gain something unholy and unhealthy from my daughters.
In fact, the corporate marketers and hollywood types are much more prevalent than the other type - they are at the Mall, in magazines, on TV and on the computer.
Another reason I am glad I’m a guy. If Harbor Freight sold underwear I’d probably buy it there.
I hereby nominate this for post of the day.
At what age do girls start wanting pretty things — including underwear? And more to the point, at what age do they STOP wanting them?
“Another reason I am glad I’m a guy. If Harbor Freight sold underwear I’d probably buy it there.”
These companies wouldn’t be wasting their money marketing to teens and tweens if these kids parents would stop purchasing this junk for them.
I am occassionally forced to enter the store...usually to pay the bill :(.
I usually see alot of teenage girls in there. Its probably their fastest growing demographic.
From your keyboard to the Apple marketing department...coming soon to an Apple store near you!! LOL!!
As to the basic subject, given my (male) observations on current early to mid-teen female physical development and comparing to my late 1960s equivalent age frame, I'd say many in that group are already potential consumers of the usual line at VS without any special products to lure them into the store. I'd guess the developmental equivalent factor to be that today's 14 is the old 21 when comparing eras. JMO...YMMV
“...coming soon to an Apple store near you!!...”
The iThong. The iBra. The iPantyhose.
“That’s funny. I guess my husband would be buying Apple underwear.”
And my husband would be buying it at Tractor Supply...
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