Victoria's Secret Discreetly Changes "Perfect Body" Campaign Tagline Amid Backlash

Slogan now reads "A Body for Every Body" on the website

By Jenna Mullins Nov 06, 2014 6:38 PMTags
Victoria's Secret, Perfect Body Campaignvictoriassecret.com

Victoria's Secret has a new secret. And it's not another line of sweatpants that scream "PINK!" on the butt.

The company has quietly and discreetly changed its slogan for its Body by Victoria intimate wear collection after receiving major backlash for its original campaign.

Instead of "The Perfect Body," the section on the website for the line of bras and underwear now has the tagline: "A Body for Every Body."

Victoria's Secret made no officially announcement or comment regarding the backlash or the change in wording, and as noted by Buzzfeed, the posters in stores still read the original slogan. Only the website has the new tagline.

Frances Black, a 22-year-old student, launched a Change.org petition after she saw the "Perfect Body" posters in a Victoria's Secret store a couple of weeks ago.

"Victoria's Secret's new advertisements play on women's insecurities, and send out a damaging message by positioning the words 'The Perfect Body' across models who have exactly the same, very slim body type," she wrote. "This marketing campaign is harmful. It fails to celebrate the amazing diversity of women's bodies by choosing to call only one body type 'perfect.'"

As of Thursday, the petition had over 27,000 signatures.

The outrage also sparked an #IamPerfect campaign on Twitter, with women posting pictures of themselves posing next to the VS ad with their own signs:

Apparently the online brouhaha reached the company, because they are clearly in the beginning stages of changing the campaign's message.

We recently spoke with Victoria's Secret model and BFF to Taylor Swift, Klarlie Kloss at The Wall Street Journal's 2014 Innovator Awards about the backlash.

"I think every body is different and I think the definition of perfect comes down to the individual," she tells us. "For me personally, I feel best in my body when I'm strong and that's when I feel most beautiful. I think the definition for perfect is different for everyone."

For us, personally, we feel best about our bodies when we are at home on the couch watching House Hunters, pantless. How about you guys?

—Reporting by Jennifer Cooper