The Kiffness, Woolworths and Body Shaming… here’s all you need to know about the combo and why it actually matters.
David Scott from The Kiffness is no stranger to a Woolworths faux pas and has called them out on many different things on many different occasions… and we love it.
In February this year, Scott drew an awesome cartoon on how to get a “Hot Date” on Valentines day which he posted on social media. It was shared thousands of times and caused some laughs, apparently Woolies even picked up on the post and sent him a care package… clever marketers.
In another Facebook post directed to Woolworths over the weekend, Scott compliments the company on their very tasty kebabs, but in the same breath, says they should be ashamed of themselves…
“Dear WOOLWORTHS SA. I’ve had your chicken kebabs & they’re delicious but yoh man, your kebab sticks are thicker than your mannequins legs.”
“No wonder my wife keeps asking if she looks fat in her jeans. Shame on you!”
Woolworths responded a couple of days after the post went viral… but it begs the question. Why did it take 10 000 retweets to make them realise there was a problem in the first place?
In response to the copious criticism, Woolworths has committed to taking the concerns raised into consideration when making an order for its next batch of dummy figures used to display its clothes.
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“The concerns raised have been discussed in-depth today with our Visual Merchandising, Clothing and Marketing management teams who have committed to take these concerns into consideration when we next order mannequins,” the retail brand said in a statement to Times Media Group.
In addition, Woolworths revealed that it sources its mannequins from international outlets, who build them according to global specifications.
“We currently source our display mannequins from international mannequin houses and these bodies are built to global or universal specifications.”
But Woolies (and all other media houses for that matter)…
It can be difficult feeling comfortable in your own skin when the media perpetuates an idea of what beauty is. Tall. Skinny. Straight teeth. Fuller hair. The list goes on.
And if catwalk models are regularly criticised for being underweight, it is now their instore counterparts – mannequins – in the firing line.
Its not the first time a retailer has been called out for having mannequins that are so thin, and loads of retailers have made the move to models that are a little easier to relate with.
There have been efforts to address this disparity in recent years. Clothing stores in London began using size 16 models in 2014, a move that was met with praise from consumers as a step towards “celebrating our diverse society” and reflecting the demand for more realistic representations of women.
A study by Cambridge University in 2013 even claimed there is evidence that larger mannequins will shift more units – as women are more likely to buy clothes when they are advertised or displayed on “women” a similar size to them.
Photographer Victoria Janashvili even created a series of photos with international model Denise Bidot to show how ridiculous mannequin sizes actually are. Bidot posed with an “average” sized mannequin from an American store. Um, that’s tiny. Imagine using the Woolies ones???
Great message to be sending to younger and older women. Not! No… can we just stop with the body shaming already?
So, while we have certainly come a long way as far as realistic mannequins go, it looks like there are still more strides to be made. And thats where retailers like you come in Woolies… be the change, not the big corporate with nice excuses.
That said, we are over the moon that we have celebrities like The Kiffness raising awareness on this poor demonstration of body image. We really don’t mind if a brand get shamed like the way they shame bodies.
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