VS and Child Labor
In 2011 VS was said to be using cotton from forced child labor farms in Burkina Faso, according to Bloomberg News. Reporter Cam Simpson from Bloomberg reported the heart breaking story of 13-year-old Clarisse Kambire, who lives in constant fear at a West African cotton field.
Beaten and made to do the work of an ox and plow, the cotton she helps grow ends up a "fair trade" program run by West African nation Burkina Faso. The entirety of last year's crop was bought by Victoria's Secret.
The response has been minimal, VS has stated they are investigating but no real information has been released on how VS will fix the problem.
VS Going Green?
Victoria Secret is also in trouble with a group called Forest Ethics who have put together a four year campaign to end the company's use of endangered forest products in their catalogs.
The company mails over 400 million catalogs annually, or more than one million per day.
VS agreed in December 2006 to develop for more sustainable catalogs and phasing out the use of forest products from valuable and dwindling resources such as the Northern Boreal Forest in Canada.
VS Pink- "Bright Young Things"
Victoria Secret's "Bright Young Things" advertisement for their PINK line is aimed at teen girls but this advertisement has phrases on underwear with sayings such as "Call me", "Feeling Lucky" which is only making these teens feel like objects in order for VS to sell lingerie. The PINK brand is meant for younger girls and teens but these messages that are all over this line is misleading.
Parents fear the impact this kind of messaging has on young generations, not to mention future ones. Not only is Victoria's Secret encouraging girls to sexualize themselves at younger and younger ages, but they're teaching men and boys to value girls' sexuality at younger and younger ages.
Hyper-sexualization and self-objectification are already national health problems, and as many as 60% of young women don't pursue the things they are most passionate about in life because of body dissatisfaction. Teaching teenage girls to see their value as a measure of how their body looks -a central tenant of all Victoria's Secret advertising -further limits their future possibilities in life.
In 2011 VS was said to be using cotton from forced child labor farms in Burkina Faso, according to Bloomberg News. Reporter Cam Simpson from Bloomberg reported the heart breaking story of 13-year-old Clarisse Kambire, who lives in constant fear at a West African cotton field.
Beaten and made to do the work of an ox and plow, the cotton she helps grow ends up a "fair trade" program run by West African nation Burkina Faso. The entirety of last year's crop was bought by Victoria's Secret.
The response has been minimal, VS has stated they are investigating but no real information has been released on how VS will fix the problem.
VS Going Green?
Victoria Secret is also in trouble with a group called Forest Ethics who have put together a four year campaign to end the company's use of endangered forest products in their catalogs.
The company mails over 400 million catalogs annually, or more than one million per day.
VS agreed in December 2006 to develop for more sustainable catalogs and phasing out the use of forest products from valuable and dwindling resources such as the Northern Boreal Forest in Canada.
VS Pink- "Bright Young Things"
Victoria Secret's "Bright Young Things" advertisement for their PINK line is aimed at teen girls but this advertisement has phrases on underwear with sayings such as "Call me", "Feeling Lucky" which is only making these teens feel like objects in order for VS to sell lingerie. The PINK brand is meant for younger girls and teens but these messages that are all over this line is misleading.
Parents fear the impact this kind of messaging has on young generations, not to mention future ones. Not only is Victoria's Secret encouraging girls to sexualize themselves at younger and younger ages, but they're teaching men and boys to value girls' sexuality at younger and younger ages.
Hyper-sexualization and self-objectification are already national health problems, and as many as 60% of young women don't pursue the things they are most passionate about in life because of body dissatisfaction. Teaching teenage girls to see their value as a measure of how their body looks -a central tenant of all Victoria's Secret advertising -further limits their future possibilities in life.
VS Fashion Show- Sex Appeal
Putting the fashion show on broadcast programming has allowed Victoria’s Secret to pervade a larger audience, authorizing Angels to strut their stuff right into the living rooms of millions. In front of millions eyes of all ages, Victoria Secret “creates the illusion of this amazing body on the runway…but there are about 20 layers of makeup on my butt alone,” acknowledges one Angel, Selita Ebanks to the New York Daily News.
Organizations such as the American Family Association and American Decency Association flood the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) annually with complaints about the fashion show and Victoria’s Secret aired advertisements, claiming the sexualized airings as being indecent and obscene (FCC).
The fashion show is becoming less about the lingerie and more about the Angels sporting it. Although the show is made to showcase lingerie collections and sell product, most “outfits” exhibited on the runway are extremely over the top and are not even available for sale on store shelves.
VS Advertising- Sex Appeal
Victoria’s Secret isn’t selling bras and underwear; they’re defining sex appeal and selling body image. Victoria’s Secret unabashed advertisements allure females into believing owning VS lingerie will infuse the confidence and sexiness that the women in the advertisements receive from every airbrushed pore.
Victoria’s Secret is demoralizing women and misleading them to think buying their lingerie will fix their insecurities. The company has taken a sacred concept, the angel, and sexualized it to further advance the association of their lingerie with the predetermined body image their advertisements diffuse throughout society.
Victoria’s Secret ads feature bombshell Angels begging you to buy their lifestyle and body, harassing and pleading their case every time your eyes run into them. They force you to further the unnecessary materialism with their promises of manifested sex appeal.
Putting the fashion show on broadcast programming has allowed Victoria’s Secret to pervade a larger audience, authorizing Angels to strut their stuff right into the living rooms of millions. In front of millions eyes of all ages, Victoria Secret “creates the illusion of this amazing body on the runway…but there are about 20 layers of makeup on my butt alone,” acknowledges one Angel, Selita Ebanks to the New York Daily News.
Organizations such as the American Family Association and American Decency Association flood the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) annually with complaints about the fashion show and Victoria’s Secret aired advertisements, claiming the sexualized airings as being indecent and obscene (FCC).
The fashion show is becoming less about the lingerie and more about the Angels sporting it. Although the show is made to showcase lingerie collections and sell product, most “outfits” exhibited on the runway are extremely over the top and are not even available for sale on store shelves.
VS Advertising- Sex Appeal
Victoria’s Secret isn’t selling bras and underwear; they’re defining sex appeal and selling body image. Victoria’s Secret unabashed advertisements allure females into believing owning VS lingerie will infuse the confidence and sexiness that the women in the advertisements receive from every airbrushed pore.
Victoria’s Secret is demoralizing women and misleading them to think buying their lingerie will fix their insecurities. The company has taken a sacred concept, the angel, and sexualized it to further advance the association of their lingerie with the predetermined body image their advertisements diffuse throughout society.
Victoria’s Secret ads feature bombshell Angels begging you to buy their lifestyle and body, harassing and pleading their case every time your eyes run into them. They force you to further the unnecessary materialism with their promises of manifested sex appeal.
http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/responsibleshopper/company.cfm?id=259
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-siebel-newsom/the-danger-in-victorias-secrets-marketing_b_3024702.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-01-13/child-labor-for-fair-trade-cotton-probed-by-u-s-investigators
http://tech.mit.edu/V121/N60/col60gray.60c.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jennifer-siebel-newsom/the-danger-in-victorias-secrets-marketing_b_3024702.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-01-13/child-labor-for-fair-trade-cotton-probed-by-u-s-investigators
http://tech.mit.edu/V121/N60/col60gray.60c.html