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So from this semester's discussion of companies mission statements, values, ethics, and principles, I just find it so outdated to see that VS has made no efforts to recognize the influence their brand has on women's perception of body image, and the powerful messages their brand sends.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.

Week 7: Mass Direct Mailings ... Seriously. Still?

Several years ago, in my effort to become a responsible and sustainable patron of mother earth, I made the decision to unsubscribe to the MANY direct mailing/catalogs I was receiving. It was just too much of a waste... And a temptation to spend. I also choose to do my billing electronically, in my continued effort to save the planet and eliminate excessive waste. However, the previous tenant in my apartment not only never paid her bills or speeding tickets, but clearly had a massive shopping addiction. It's amazing how you can get an idea of the type of person someone is just by looking at their mail... Anywho, the point is, I get a TON of catalogs flooding my mailbox on a daily basis. I've also made numerous attempts to return to sender as well as inform my postman that Tina Gr***om does not live here any longer and she probably should know she has several outstanding speeding tickets... I can only assume as I know better than to open other's mail! :)

I digress... So when discussing media from an ethical point of view, I want to consider the ethical responsibility companies have to our environment. The "Green Movement," is here to stay. I don't see it as just a popular trend. Society is concerned. Many companies have caught on to this and are figuring out ways to capitalize on the popularity of being a green patron of society. I think that is brilliant. Make money and do good. I'm all for it. What I don't understand is how companies can ethically continue to send out catalogs in the mass quantities that they do when the Internet makes shopping much simpler and greener.

 The biggest violator of mass mailing? Victoria's Secret. They take it to the extreme. Not quarterly, or seasonal, but BI-MONTHLY catalogs... If not more. Sometimes weekly. The frustration comes when I recognize that they are basically the same catalogs with different covers. I didn't want to buy that $85 bra last week, and I still don't this week. Catalogs advertising end of season sales, then clearance, then Christmas, and Spring, and Swim, and Swim Brazil. It's just plain crazy. I don't even have the chance to look at one before another 2 show up in my mailbox. If that is not enough to keep their brand in my mind, then they send me quite obviously expensive mailings with $10 off coupons every month. Its overkill, and frankly has ruined my appreciation for the brand.

According to a 2009 post on greenamerica.org, VS was sending 400 million catalogs a year... That's more than 1 million a day. http://www.greenamerica.org

There I found another site called victoriasdirtysecret.net which was actively aiming to get VS to change their mailing policy. Where a popup explained that VS had "cleaned up their act."
Uhh... According to who?

Now, if you go to their website, they have an online catalog. The exact same thing. Seriously. Exactly it. Where you can flip through it just as if you were holding it in your hand.

The screenshot below shows the option to choose a current catalog:

Then choose which pages you want to scroll to, or you can just browse normally:

So they have already made an adaption to become "green," yet I feel like the number of mailings have grown. Why has no one targeted this and made it an issue? I get that women like to see it in their mailbox, go inside, flip through, and circle/ear-mark items they are interested in, but seriously... Cut back on the amount. Once a month even. Promote your online catalog availability. Trust me. Women (and men) will still shop there. Check yourself Vicky.

VS is one of 6 companies under the Limited Brand, who's mission statement regarding the environment is as follows:
"Sustainable Success:  Our Environmental Responsibility
 We believe in doing what is right in our industry, our community and our world. This includes conducting our business in an environmentally responsible way. To this end, we are always looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact. We are working to shrink our footprint through better natural resource management. We’re helping to reduce the demands on our forests by promoting sustainable materials in our catalogues. And we’re introducing programs to reduce our energy consumption and reduce or reuse materials whenever we can. Together with our manufacturers, suppliers, partners and customers, we’re helping to support a healthier planet."
 Limited Brands

Bottom line... Not good enough.

If you are have the same problem as me go to http://donotmail.org to request that you no longer receive junk mail and unwanted catalogs.