Victoria's Secret's top competitor just released a lingerie ad that's unlike anything we've ever seen from a major retailer
In the retailer's latest YouTube video, "Real Talk With Barbie," the lingerie company solidifies that message by showcasing a curvy model, Barbie Ferreira, following in the footsteps of Aerie's popular curvy model and body positivity activist Iskra Lawrence.
"Not being retouched in the images is something that's very important to me," Ferreira says in the short video. "People knowing that that's what I look like without anyone's perception of what my body needs to look like."
"We cast Barbie because she's got nothing to hide, she's strong and beautiful - she embraces her real self, which is the spirit of the Aerie Real message," Jen Foyle, Aerie's Global Brand President, said to Refinery29.
Ferreira says she doesn't care what people think about her.
"At one point, I don't remember what day it was that it kinda clicked to me, but I realized that there - it is possible to do whatever the f--- I want at my weight without having to change myself to fit something," the Wilhelmina curve model said to Vice's i-D in November.
When people attacked her recent campaign, she took to Twitter to show her critics that they aren't getting to her.
But many people are responding positively to Aerie's campaigns.
Aerie's "#aerieREAL" campaign has helped the retailer's sales soar. In its most recent quarter, comparable sales climbed 21%.
The company also plans to grow.
"Next Aerie presents an incredible growth and opportunity, which I believe can double in size over the next several years," CEO Jay Schottenstein said on American Eagle's second quarter earnings call in 2015.
After the ICR conference in Orlando this January, RBC Capital Markets pointed out in a note that the company will be "doubling Aerie" from approximately $260 million in sales in fiscal year 2014 - meaning that the company should be making over $500 million in sales in the coming years.
Still, that would leave the company behind Victoria's Secret, which amassed roughly $5.7 billion in sales in 2014. However, it makes it one of the company's few viable competitors.
You can watch the video campaign below.