I slammed the “body positivity” movement in a number of posts, as obesity is the driver of many chronic health problems and exacerbates illnesses (e.g., covid).
I have also chided companies that promote the idea an obese body is a healthy choice for anyone. Until recently, lingerie company Victoria’s Secret has been at the forefront of this woke marketing strategy.
That is until the numbers showed the firm was heading toward broke.
Victoria’s Secret is returning to its hyper-sexualized roots after attempting to rebrand as a more inclusive retailer, reports state.The lingerie empire has seen a drop in sales since overhauling its image by replacing its traditional ‘Angel’ supermodels with more diverse models including soccer player Megan Rapinoe and transgender model Valentina Sampaio.Business of Fashion reporter Cathleen Chen noted that the move gained ‘favorable reviews online but never translated into sales.’Bosses are now looking to bring back the brand’s ‘sexiness,’ according to a report by CNN on Tuesday. Victoria’s Secret insisted its new direction has nothing to do with its inclusivity efforts, as one exec said ‘sexiness can be inclusive.’
Personally, I used to be a regular customer…until the woke marketing became unbearable. This is a step in the right direction for the company…and one I hope indicates a trend away from woke.
The company has lost over $1 billion in the course of a few, short years.
According to the numbers, the lingerie brand’s projected revenue for 2023 is $6.2 billion, which is 5% lower than it was last year, and even lower than 2020, when the brand’s revenue was $7.5 billion.The drop in Victoria’s Secret’s sales also followed the company’s move to make its board of directors mostly female.In 2021, Rapinoe called out what the brand had been before the revamp, claiming it had sent out a “really harmful” message that was “patriarchal, sexist, viewing not just what it meant to be sexy but what the clothes were trying to accomplish through a male lens and through what men desired.”“And it was very much marketed toward younger women,” the U.S. Women’s soccer star added at the time.
There is no shame in wanting to be attractive and appealing to those around you.
There is one added bonus for Victoria’s Secret. The new weight-loss drugs could deal a much-needed blow to the “body positivity” inanity.
New research from Goldman Sachs projects 15 million adults in the US will be on anti-obesity medications by 2030, representing 13% penetration in the US adult population — not including diabetic patients.Globally, Goldman Sachs sees sales for chronic weight management reaching $100 billion by 2030, up from a $6 billion annualized estimate earlier this year.”The chronic weight management market is undergoing an inflection, in our view, with potential for solid growth ahead and a peak opportunity that, by our estimates, could ultimately yield some of the highest grossing drugs of all time,” a team of Goldman Sachs analysts led by Chris Shibutani wrote in a research note on Monday.
Victoria’s secret may actually be that their marketing team is dropping the woke in anticipation that they will have a new, thinner, and happier customer base soon.
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