Week 8: Victoria's Secret on Blast

After considering the undeniable disregard VS has for our environment due to their inexcusable mass catalog mailings... I thought about what sort of ethics and principles this company has.

VS is one of 6 brands under the umbrella Limited Brand. On their website, they have a subheading for responsibility... That is broken into community, products, environment, labor and inclusion. When you dive further into the products, the main overview is as follows:

"Limited Brands is a values-based company. Our mission is to make our customers feel sexy, sophisticated and forever young. We acknowledge our responsibility to deliver on this promise by providing high-quality, safe and effective products in all of our brands, including Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, PINK, Henri Bendel, White Barn Candle Company and La Senza.
While Limited Brands offers a broad array of products ranging from top-selling perfumes (Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret) to fun collegiate dorm wear (Victoria’s Secret PINK), we apply the same, disciplined approach to all of our products when it comes to quality and protecting our customers."
http://www.limitedbrands.com/responsibility/product_info/product_overview.aspx
 

As a company that plays largely into women's misconceptions of what "sexy" is. I was disturbed to find that VS does not have an individual mission statement garnered specifically for that brand. I find it hard to believe that the same ethics, morals, and principles should be applied to a lingerie company and a candle company. I did not find any acknowledgement of the companies attempt to help women have a healthy body image. In fact, the days of Tyra Banks (a full figured super model) who preached about her love of her curves are almost non existent. The VS Fashion Show is and has always been an exciting TV event that I love. I used to dream about how amazing it would be to work for them, designing and putting together such a magical event. But the 2012 VSFS left me speechless. The models were thinner than ever. I felt like we were back in the early 90's. The next day on campus, the girls in my classes were discussing how sick these "models," were. More so than the show.

So from this semester's discussion of companies mission statements, values, ethics, and principles, I just find it so outdated to see that VS has made no efforts to recognize the influence their brand has on women's perception of body image, and the powerful messages their brand sends. By incorporating a campaign similar to that of the "Dove Real Woman" campaign, it seems they could improve their image. Their main stakeholders, women, would benefit by VS becoming more ethical and moral, than just by helping woman feel "sexy" in $150 underwear.