Intimate advice - Barely There

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Sara Lee Branded Apparel has taken the radical step of creating brassiere ads intended to inform women instead of, uh, titillating men, reports Julie Bosman in The New York Times (7/15/06). "Victoria's Secret has had success owning seksy, and I think there's a certain segment of the population that wants a seksier bra," says Rob Schapiro, creative director of the Martin Agency, which created the new campaign for Sara Lee's Barely There brand. He adds: "...We realized that a large segment of the population is concerned about how she looks in her bra while actually wearing clothing." And so the ads are were designed "to take the place of a gimlet-eyed girlfriend -- someone who will matter-of-factly tell you that your strap is showing, or that a lacy bra has no place under a shirt made of thin fabric."

The campaign sends its message using a "before-and-after" construct, "with two bras side-by-side that illustrate the result of an ill-chosen bra. On the left is a bra that is bumpy or misshapen (labeled 'There'). On the right, a bra with a monochromatic background ("Barely There.") The 'There' bras are adorned with objects that signify bumps, ridges and other bra-related problems. (The objects the Martin Agency ... dreamed up include headlights, Jiffy Pop, pine cones and pointy pink-drink umbrellas)." It is indeed a far cry from Victoria's Secret, devoid of "slinky body parts and ... stiletto heels." It's also a departure for Barely There, "which in the past has subscribed to the standard formula of women's underwear advertising."

Referring to the status quo, Tolli Love, Barely There's vp of marketing comments: "Men are attracted to that type of advertising ... I think there's a perception that with intimate apparel, seks sells, and then women, to, are unfairly grouped into that category." Even Wonderbra seems to have grasped the concept, replacing "in-your-face" ads featuring a lot of "you-know-what," with relatively more subtle approaches, such as "a restaurant full of men staring straight ahead, at a woman who is not in the picture." Whether Barely There's practicality pitch succeeds remains to be seen, but it does seem well, um, supported: "By some estimates, as many as 85 percent of the female population" is "wearing ill-fitting bras."