These photos of Victoria's Secret commercials over the years reveal why the store is struggling in the #MeToo era

Mary HanburyMay 3, 2018, 00:44 IST

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Victoria's Secret has found itself caught up in the #MeToo moment and has been criticized for its oversexualized ads. New data from brand-insights firm YouGov showed that women's perception of the brand has declined since 2013.
Discontent has been brewing for the past few years, and some Victoria's Secret customers have complained on Facebook that its ads, which feature scantily dressed models, are targeted more towards men than women.
Here's how much its commercials have changed over the years.

Victoria's Secret is alienating some customers with its racy ads.

In April, new data from brand-insights firm YouGov showed that women's perception of Victoria's Secret has seen a slight decline since 2013. Its so-called "Buzz score," which tracks how customers feel about brands based on what they see and hear, has declined as Victoria's Secret has lost favor with women between the ages of 18 and 49.

According to YouGov, the brand has found itself caught up in the #MeToo moment. Its annual fashion show featuring its famous "Angels" aired only a month after allegations of sexual harassment came out against Harvey Weinstein. Its television ratings sunk 30%, according to YouGov researcher Paul Hiebert.

Discontent towards its ads has been growing. In 2016, one of its Facebook photos got heat from customers who said it was so overtly sexual that it was borderline pornographic.

Earlier this year, Business Insider reported that the brand's oversexualized ads were also at risk of putting off shoppers at its teen brand, PINK. In complaints on Facebook, mothers of these young shoppers compared the ads in stores to "pornography."

Though some of its commercials have become more tame over time, the reality is that the brand has largely not adapted to the times, and its scantily clad, airbrushed models are still the main feature of its campaigns.

We took a look back at the brand's commercials to see how much they've changed over the years:

See These photos of Victoria's Secret commercials over the years reveal why the store is struggling in the #MeToo era >>

The brand was created by Ray Raymond in 1977. Raymond named the brand after the Victorian era in England, wanting to evoke the refinement of this period in his lingerie. The term "secrets" refers to what was hidden beneath.

Source: Slate

The brand was bought by its current parent company, L Brands, for $1 million in 1982 with its current CEO, Les Wexner, at the helm.

The overtly provocative nature of Raymond's Victoria's Secret was slightly altered when Wexner took the helm of the brand — but make no mistake, lingerie still abounded.

The brand held its first runway show in 1995.

Source: L Brands

The idea of the Victoria's Secret "Angel" came into play in 1997 after a commercial featuring Helena Christensen, Karen Mulder, Daniela Peštová, Stephanie Seymour, and Tyra Banks ran to promote its "Angels" underwear collection. From then on, the term Angel become synonymous with the brand.

Surce: The Cut

In the early commercials, the models were heavily made up and scantily dressed.

In 2014, Amercian Eagle's underwear label Aerie swapped its airbrushed ads for unretouched photos and launched a body-positive campaign known as #AerieReal.

In its most recent ad, the bras definitely felt more modest, but the premise is almost identical to what aired over 20 years ago, indicating that very little has changed even in the context of #MeToo.

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