“Hotness comes in all shapes and sizes,” and “Bold Curves” on women are attractive — according to recent campaigns from Levi’s Jeans.
Levi’s Jeans released a controversial ad for their Curve ID line that claimed to accept women of all shapes and sizes, but only depicted women of one shape, in three very small sizes.
The successful Curve ID Jean line was launched in 2010. This line of jeans was based on the idea that women’s sizes vary.
They created three basic shapes; the slight curve, the demi curve and the bold curve which are based on dimension differences between a woman’s hips and behinds.
They come in sizes based on width and length similar to men’s jeans, rather than the usual 0-12 that curvy women often struggle with. As a curvy woman, I have often had trouble finding jeans that fit “just right.”
The Curve ID Jean line is the perfect solution to that problem.
Sadly, though, Levi’s marketing team did not handle this great innovation in the way that they should have. The newest edition to the Curve ID line was made for larger women who cannot find jeans that fit their curvaceous figure.
Unfortunately, this shape has been given a name that is not flattering. Instead, it is insulting and comical.
This new shape is the Supreme curve jean. How is calling an item of clothing “Supreme” flattering?
What kind of cruel joke is this name?
The newest advertisement sports the tagline that “Hotness comes in all shapes and sizes,” above a photograph of three women who do not represent the various shapes and sizes the jean line claims to clothe.
Instead, these women are three slight variations of very thin women. Each a slight bit taller than the next with maybe a quarter of an inch more body weight. That quarter of an inch is not much considering the smallest model looks to be between sizes 0 and 2. The “largest” model of the bunch is, at the most, a size 4.
According to this campaign, hotness comes in all shapes and sizes – under a size 5. To take a step further into the bad choices made during this campaign, the Levi’s website shows an image of three different women next to the “FitFinder” tool.
The photograph shows three very thin women from behind. These women have typical model body types; not a curve in sight. The FitFinder tool is a short survey that asks women about their body shapes as well as issues they have had with previous jean shapes. At the end of the short survey, the visitor is shown the “Perfect Fit” jean shape.
Next to the jean shape is a photograph of a woman in the jeans; another typical model. Not only are these advertisements misleading, they are insulting to women who wear the larger sizes of these jeans.
Celebrating “real women” is an inspiring concept in advertising.Refusing to show real women in that advertising is insulting and disappointing.
Why should curvy women buy a product if the company producing it is too ashamed to show the real consumer?