Victoria's Secret Tweaks Business Plan To Focus On Sexiness, 'Get Woke, Go Broke' Crowd Celebrates

Lingerie brand Victoria's Secret appears to be turning a big dial that says "sexiness" and looking at its consumer base like a contestant on The Price Is Right, as it is now claiming it will focus more on doing a blend of "s--y" and "inclusive" marketing to combat declining sales.

The brand found itself in Twitter's trending topics this morning as news spread that it was going to revisit its old, "sexier" roots after two years in which the company tried to win a broader consumer base by marketing to a more inclusive consumer base.

This decline was widely celebrated by the "Get Woke Go Broke" crowd thanks in part to some arguably sensationalized headlines, but the reality is a bit more nuanced than that according to reports.

The news was first reported by CNN, and it appears that two key quotes got taken through a game of telephone such that reports by outlets like the New York Post and Daily Mail could paint the decision as Victoria's Secret ditching "wokeness" and "feminism" in order to increase sales.

One was by Greg Unis, Brand President of Victoria’s Secret and Pink, the company’s sub-brand targeting younger consumers, who said, "Sexiness can be inclusive. Sexiness can celebrate the diverse experiences of our customers and that’s what we’re focused on."

Another was by Chief Executive Martin Waters, who said, "Despite everyone's best endeavors, it's not been enough to carry the day."

However, evidence that Victoria's Secret is "ditching its woke, feminist makeover" (as the New York Post described it) in the original CNN article appears scant.

The article notes, "More recent [Victoria's Secret] campaigns have featured models like Hailey Bieber and Emily Ratajkowski, who would have fit right in with Heidi Klum and Adriana Lima at the 2007 show, as well as new-look ambassadors, including plus-size models Paloma Elsesser and Ali Tate-Cutler."

A recent runway show for the brand "fell somewhere in between the personification of male l--- of the brand’s aughts-era heyday and the inclusive utopia promoted by its many disruptors."

Much of the article instead focuses on how recent competitors of Victoria's Secret, such as ThirdLove, Parade, Aerie, Savage X Fenty and Skims, have encroached on the brand's dominance in the lingerie and underwear market. ThirdLove and Parade were cited as brands that wooed consumers with "inclusive marketing" but faded as serious competitors due to being online-only stores.

The date of Victoria's Secret's initial, more-inclusive rebrand is pinned as 2021, when they partnered with US Soccer star Megan Rapinoe, though they had ditched the infamous "Angels" show some years prior.

Sales spiked dramatically in 2021 (though that may be in part due to the fact it was the year after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic), but 2021's $6.8 billion sales number for the brand total in sales was shy of their mid-2010s $7.7 billion peak.

This led some online to suggest that the brand's supposed "wokeness" wasn't the sole cause of declining sales, but rather more competition in the field and, in some consumers' eyes, low-quality and pandering products put out by Victoria's Secret.