What’s the link between body image and marketing?
In a lot of marketing and brand imagery, there’s an underlying assumption that unrealistic, airbrushed, images of men’s and women’s bodies promote products in a more favourable light. This often comes at the expense of individual body confidence, as potential customers are continually exposed to unattainable standards of beauty.
According to a study conducted by the Mental Health Foundation in 2019, just over one in five adults (22%) and 40% of teenagers said images on social media caused them to worry about their body image. Body image dissatisfaction is linked to poorer mental health in children and adults, anything from depressive symptoms to eating disorders. One in five UK adults have felt shame because of their body image in the last year (Mental Health Foundation, 2019).
Y.O.U Underwear and body image – what are we doing?
For us, there’s no choice between body image and brand image. We believe that all bodies are beautiful, and we aim to reflect this in the photographs we use to promote our products. And as an underwear brand, we feel that have an added responsibility to avoid unhealthy imaging. Everyone has a right to feel confident and comfortable in their own bodies, and that the images we choose to promote should support this.
We love to use our friends and families as models. In our photoshoots we’ve had everything from size 8 to 18, and ages 18 to 80, and we never airbrush our images. We also share pictures of our customers in their Y.O.U Underwear across our social channels and on our website – with their approval, of course!
As firm believers in the power of positive pants, we’ve hidden kind messages inside our undies to provide a gentle reminder (at unexpected times!) that you make a difference! #BeBodyKind
