 Background Information:
Victoria's Secrets Bras are manufactured in various places around the world except the United States. They have factories in all of the places mentioned above and in poor conditions. They also have a factory in Jordan which has been under investigation by the National Labor Committee. The laborers are poor people who are looking for a job. They work in poor conditions, long hours, and for next to nothing in pay. Most travel all over and have to pay for the trip themselves to come and work in factories that are dirty, unsafe and dangerous. Most of these people don't have experience in working in factories and most aren't shown how to work machinery properly. Those that profit from this are the company Victoria's Secret itself, the owners of the factories and stores as well as the stockholders. Victoria's Secret can manufacture an obscene amount of bras by hiring low waged people and by contracting out to these factories which can run it however they want as long as they are generating the amount of bras needed. One of Victoria’s Secret’s strengths is its very successful marketing strategy. In a business that sells an image and a lifestyle, advertising is crucial. Victoria’s Secret spends $66 million each year on advertising, essentially defining beauty and packaging it for consumers.Thousands of newspaper ads, catalogs, and televised fashion shows convince women that buying Victoria’s Secret products will boost their confidence and enhance their appeal. Victoria's Secret Fashion Show is televised annually and reaches an audience of over 1 billion people and news coverage. The fashion show is aired on CBS which has an exclusive contract with Victoria's Secret. Fashion and Gender: A Victoria’s Secret product represents fun, romance, fantasy, desire and love all in one. Thousands of newspaper ads, catalogs, and televised fashion shows convince women that buying Victoria’s Secret products will boost their confidence and enhance their appeal. As long as they don Victoria’s Secret lingerie, women can be transformed like Cinderella from the ties of domestic life to one of the angels seen on the walkway. Victoria's Secret aired a 30 second commercial during the Superbowl which led to a frenetic rush to desktop computers almost immediately after it aired. It mixed sex and sports and had over a million hits which has never been done before. "For viewers to leave their T.V. sets during the Super Bowl and log onto Victoria's Secret website is amazing" according to Ed Razek, the company's president of brand and creative services. Victoria's Secret is also notable for their supermodels. These women are all tall, beautiful, and made to look flawless. This is what women see and feel that they need to look like. A typical woman in any society does not look like a Victoria's Secret model. It is unrealistic to have all "perfect" women represent Victoria's Secret. A motto of Victoria's Secret is feeling sexy, but it is hard to feel sexy when the bra and panty set do not look as good on you as the supermodel wearing it. This image goes to women's heads in that to feel sexy is being a size two and having large breasts, which this again is unrealistic. It is hard to flip through magazines and catalogs from Victoria's secret because of the fact all the women are supermodels. In stores and in catalogs it is also been observed that there is a significant less number of choices for bigger women in finding underwear and bras that are as attractive as the smaller underwear or bra sizes. The large bras are typically a white or off white color and that is all that is offered. When a Victoria's Secret employee was asked why this was they got very defensive and said that this was not true. With a look around at different stores and catalogs it was easy to find that it is indeed true that the larger the bra or underwear, the less there is a pattern or color. Does this tell us that larger women are not as sexy as smaller, thinner women? Victoria's secret is also very gendered in that when entering the store you will mostly see pink, glitter, ribbons, and bows. The store is considered to be very "girlie" and feminine. The relaxed clothing line is entitled "The Pink Collection." This goes to show yet again how feminine Victoria's Secret is even when it comes to sweats and pajamas.
  |   10 Things Every Consumer Needs to Know: 1) Victoria's Secret was founded by a man!
2) Victoria's Secret was believed to be invented in England after Queen Victoria who was considered a prude. 3)Women make up the majority of the companies executive. 4) Its annual fashion show that is broadcast on the internet has warranted several FCC complaints for being slightly pornographic. 5) Victoria's Secret has been in the media lately for numerous lawsuits brought against them. 6) Victoria's Secret has been under investigation from the National Labor Committee in regards to sweatshop labor 7) Nobody knows what Victoria's Secret is? 8) Up until 2 years ago Victoria's Secret was manufacturing their catalogs with paper made from endangered forests! http://www.forestethics.org/ 9) Victoria's Secret has virtually no competitors in the elegant lingerie market. 10) In order to understand Victoria's Secret success you have to look at the forces behind it such as the media which conveys the position of intimate apparel in our society. Word on the street: We conducted interviews to get a feel for what people thought about Victoria's Secrets and their products. Chris, 32, from Illinois had this to say about Victoria's Secret: "I have shopped at Victoria's Secret before for my girlfriend and was overwhelmed when I first stepped foot in the store. I tried to pick out lingerie but couldn't decide on what to get so I went with a gift certificate. My opinion on the products is that they are way overpriced but look really nice. There lingerie is definitely sexy and I like the way they look on my girlfriend but they look just as good on the floor. I personally wouldn't shop there if I were a female because of the prices. Can't really tell you anything about comfort because my girlfriend wears their bras and she has never complained. I'm not really sure that I would shop there again at least at the store, but I am willing to shop online or from the millions of catalogs that my girlfriend receives". Katie, 22, from Illinois Katie was an employee of Victoria's Secret for two years. This is what she had to say: "I really enjoyed working at Victoria's Secret. I worked well with other employers and managers. I typically only buy Victoria's Secret bras and underwear. I feel that it is somewhat expensive, but the merchandise is and has been worth it to me. I have never had a problem with their merchandise it has always held up and there are no other stores that I feel would sell as high of quality as merchandise. I have felt and noticed that Victoria's Secret must spend serious amounts of money on advertising and marketing. I receive about three magazines in one week and I do feel that is absolutely ridiculous. I know from working there that marketing and appearance is something that we had to focus on. We also had many trainings on and dealing with customer service. I feel that our main goal and priority was customers and appearance. Overall I liked working there and will continue to shop from Victoria's Secret. I do feel that the company overall is not perfect, but I do like what I have seen." Caylee, 20, Illinois Caylee just recently shopped at Victoria's Secret for the first time. This is what she had to say about her experience: "I have gone into several Victoria's Secrets in the past. I have always been intimidated in the store and have never liked their prices. I like what their merchandise looks like, but I could never see myself buying a $40 bra. I have always shopped and liked what I have received from more reasonable stores. I did buy a bra from Victoria's Secret for the first time a month ago and I do like it, but I still think it was bad on my part to pay as much as I did for it. I overall feel that the store is way to overpriced and I feel overwhelmed when entering the store. I do not see myself shopping at Victoria's Secret anytime soon."
What You Can Do........ 1. Next time that you go into a Victoria's Secret Store compare the price of which you are purchasing the item to the wage that some of the factory workers are being paid. Where is all of the money going? 2. Stop the constant barrage of catalogs! All you have to do is contact the Victoria's Secret Customer Service Center and send them your removal information including your customer number, source code, and key code. 3. CLICK HERE For additional programs set up to stop deforestation. 4. Support the National Labor Committee in their attempt to help the abused workers in the country of Jordan.
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