Posted on 01/16/2023 6:49:27 AM PST by SeekAndFind
After Victoria’s Secret’s stock price plummeted last week and CEO Amy Hauk announced her departure after just eight months at the lingerie brand, conservative critics were quick to diagnose the company’s failures as a classic case of “go woke, go broke.”
It’s an easy, albeit lazy, argument to make considering the brand’s recent shift to “inclusive” models and the cancellation of their iconic “Angels” fashion show, but it ignores broader challenges across the retail industry, especially issues faced by brands with a long-held association with the now nearly extinct shopping malls.
Victoria’s Secret introduced its more “inclusive” rebrand campaign in 2021, announcing a shift from its iconic bombshell models such as Naomi Campbell and Gisele Bundchen to “changemakers” like U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe, actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas, model Adut Akech, plus-sized model Paloma Elsesser, and even transgender model Valentina Sampaio. But blaming these “woke” changes that only happened less than a year and a half ago doesn’t add up when you consider the brand faced nearly identical leadership changes in 2018 and slumping sales since 2019, which is also the same year it canceled the once incredibly popular pop culture event, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show.
A more likely culprit for the brand’s struggles is its inability to recover from its image as a shopping mall destination for bands of teenagers wooed by the striped pink walls and the PINK Puppy logo. It’s safe to assume the brand was certainly happy to fold those giddy teenagers into its marketing base, but when online retailers such as ThirdLove and Adore Me offered cheaper and often higher-quality products available at the click of an Instagram ad, long-time millennial Victoria’s Secret customers abandoned the brand in the same way they abandoned shopping malls and brands like Abercrombie and American Eagle altogether.
The shift was compounded by the rise of athleisure brands such as Lululemon and Athleta, which offered trendier and higher quality versions of the tracksuits, loungewear, and swimwear Victoria’s Secret was once known for as much as its lingerie.
Finally, no amount of “body positivity” marketing or plus-sized models will change the American consumer’s association of the brand with beautiful, even if unattainable, female bodies plastered on 12-foot posters in mall windows. This is best illustrated by the fact that despite the company’s ongoing attempts at rebranding for several years now, one of the top viral TikTok songs of 2022 and a Billboard Top 100 song titled “Victoria’s Secret,” by the singer/songwriter Jax, is constantly played on pop stations as an anthem against “body shaming” and takes direct aim at the company.
“I know Victoria’s secret / And girl, you wouldn’t believe / She’s an old man who lives in Ohio / Making money off of girls like me / Cashing in on body issues / Selling skin and bones with big boobs,” the chorus rings out. Corporate media were quick to adopt the TikTok star’s messaging, writing clicky headlines about how the viral hit, “EXPOSES LINGERIE COMPANY FOR INHERENT SEXISM AND TOXICITY.”
Perhaps more impressive than VS’s ability to stay in business for as long as it has is its ability to maintain a brand image simultaneously known for “inherent sexism” while also employing transgender models and “going woke.” Maybe riding the fine line between both is the secret to staying afloat, for now.
Well, the founder was involved with Jeffrey Epstein:
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/25/business/jeffrey-epstein-wexner-victorias-secret.html
Of course it is!
Because all the other companies are using fat girls to model sexy underwear too!
He wasn’t happy being with his own models?
from what I saw of those ads, it will do permanent harm to the company’s sales in regions they were used.
everyone will have a reason to explain sales drop, but it won’t be that reason.
shareholders nominally should resist, but funds (mutual and pension) own most shares. they aren’t voting against this slate.
The is some truth to this. Shopping malls have gone by the wayside since they became thug paradises. That said, VS ruined their brand with the big and fat focus and the tranny emphasis. That fashion show was mostly liked by guys and that was a big draw for the VS. Tubbies and fake women ruined it. Guys needed barf bags to watch that.
Spot on.
Riding fashion trends is like riding a tiger.
Even if you get it right for a while, when trends change, you will be left in the cold.
The Woke can never be satisfied.
It’s best to not even try.
Yeah, competition.
Those overweight models just couldn’t compete.....................
Hmmmm... Would, "tongue in cheek" be the wrong expression to use at this point..??
In my long and unillustrious life, I have seen W.T. Grant and Woolworth's overtaken by K-Mart and Sears, who were overtaken by Wal-Mart and Costco, who are being overtaken by Amazon and Wish/Temu. If I keep losing weight, I may live long enough to see who overtakes Amazon.
Even after a thousand companies get woke and go broke the “experts” will still be in denial.
I used to have a Victoria’s Secret card.
One day, when I was 43, I bicycled to the mall to buy a “semi modest” negligee for my soon to be bride. I was wearing my typical bicycle clothing - spandex. That was really stupid, and embarrassing.
The entire time I was there I had to hold my helmet in front of my crotch. I did get 28 phone numbers, though. 🤣
VS may be going down the tubes because it’s being out-played by the competition, but I don’t see how advertising with unattractive models is supposed to help - to me, that sounds like trying to draw people back to the mall by playing a cacophony of noise and static on the ubiquitous speakers instead of whatever one considers pleasant background music.
Regards,
Creative destruction is real, but rock stupid woke marketing and advertising folks put gasoline on the fire.
This thread has a total lack of evidence.
The evidence may not be to your liking.
RE: This thread has a total lack of evidence.
Can you tell us what sort of evidence you want to see?
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