Marks & Spencer, a British retail chain, put out this full page advertisement in newspapers today. After a year-long campaign by women in a Facebook group called Busts 4 Justice protested the chain's policy of charging more for larger bras, Marks & Spencer admitted that they were wrong.
The women of Busts 4 Justice pointed out that other retailers didn't charge more for larger bras, and even Marks & Spencer didn't charge more for large clothes.
The ad reads:
"We boobed...It's true that our fantastic quality larger bras cost more money to make, and we felt it was right to reflect this in the prices we charged. Well, we were wrong."The chain is also offering a 25% discount on all their bras through the month of May.
I think it's great that an apology was offered, but the image they used is a little disturbing. I know it's an ad for bras, but the fact that they chose the phrase "We boobed" and focused the words on the woman's breasts, is objectifying in a way that doesn't really seem to say, "We care about women and their comfort, and we're sorry if we offended anyone." Especially considering the woman in the ad would not need the larger bras that were originally being charged more for.
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I was particularly appalled by the quote in this article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8039332.stm) from another competing store in the UK: Fiona Lambert, George's brand director, said: "No one would dream of charging one price for size seven men's socks and a different price for a man with larger feet, so why should they do the same with ladies that are blessed in the chest department?"
Blessed? I know of many women with large chests who have physical back pain, problems finding clothes, and are often faced with harassment based on their chest size. I'm glad the original store changed their pricing, but that spokeswoman shouldn't have assumed that large chests are always a positive, blessed experience.
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