Thursday, May 6, 2010

Seduced at Bath & Body Works?

I wrote to a company today. PandaPop and I walked into Bath & Body Works to get him some shaving cream and were slapped in the face with a six foot poster of a totally naked teenage girl up on the focal wall. I was nice, but was emphatic towards the manager on site that THAT kind of marketing was not OK. She was very professional and promptly escorted me to the counter where she rather quickly gave me the corporate contact info so I could make my voice heard. She said that last night her workers called and said they'd put up the new promo poster and were sure that she would not approve. They had to do it anyway because those were the orders from the top.

Purity. How in the world are we supposed to teach our young girls that they don't have to show their bodies to live happy lives when THE most popular retail store in America for lotions and body soap (my own analysis) promotes their products in such a seductive manner? I am greatly disappointed in B & B Works. The following is the email I sent to the corporate office via their website. We'll see if I get a response. Their phones lines were down this morning. Made me wonder if they were already flooded with calls about this very topic.

"The new marketing plan as of May 6th is quite appalling. The huge poster of the completely nude teenager is completely inappropriate. (Even if the actual model is over the age 19, it is clearly implied that she is a teenager). How can a company which promotes wholesome mid-American sweetness use an advertising ploy that is clearly child pornography? Your products sell themselves. Sex is not needed to boost the sales. I love your products and have used them since the 90's. I do not want to have to stop giving your company my business, but will certainly do so if the new direction is to degrade females of all ages through the use of sensual, seductive advertising. Your message of using body lotion could have been promoted in a much purer, innocent way. It was very offensive to my husband who went into the store specifically for your male product line. It is not alright for children to be exposed to a nude picture either. I am so dumbfounded at the lack of foresight on the part of the marketing team at Bath & Body Works. Please have your retails stores remove the picture of the nude model. Thank you."

Don't be fooled if you go to the website to check it out. It's the same model, but not the same picture as the one in the store. The one in the store is of her sitting with her legs stretched out and she is 100% naked.

9 comments:

  1. Good for you!!!! We need more people to stand up for purity in our world today. It is a fight we must not give up on. You ought to post the email address so others can send their comments!

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  2. That is just crazy. My little 12 year old has started loving their products. Just out of curiosity, I'm going to drop by today and see if they have the same poster. If they do, I'm going to say something too!

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  3. You go GIRL! I hope corporate hears this message loud and clear. I need to do a little mall shopping this weekend. I'm definitely swinging by the store. Thanks for the heads-up.

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  4. Good for you! What's up with our culture and the way we do NOT value the purity of our teenagers; boys and girls alike. The marketing that we see, the movies we see, the lyrics to songs, it's all about sex. The stuff I've heard from my teens about what goes on the school bathrooms and any other place 2 teens can find 5 seconds of privacy. We need to stand together on this and promote purity and chastity. (boy this post sure did get my blood boiling early in the day!)

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  6. I'm actually planning on a stop by there tomorrow. If I see it, I'll be saying something... Thanks for posting this!!

    We need to catch up soon :)

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  7. Are you kidding me? I'm getting tired of having to redirect my 7 year old's eyes when we're out in public. I may sound old here, but wouldn't our grandparents who have already passed, roll over in their graves at what's on signs and tv these day? Shameful. Good for you on voicing your complaints! Let us know if they do remove the poster.

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  8. Way to go!

    Thanks for sharing and keeping me in the loop!

    And...Happy Mother's Day.

    Love you~R

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  9. Wow! The older Caleb gets (now 10) I am becoming more and more aware of this problem in our culture. I would have assumed that Bath and Body Works would be a safe store to take my son. You did a great thing in voicing your concerns.

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