FOX, ABC Censor Lingerie Commercial Featuring Plus-Size Women

by Roxann MtJoy · 2010-04-22 14:13:00 UTC
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Plus-sized clothing retailer Lane Bryant wanted to run a commercial for its new lingerie line. Seems reasonable, boring really, given that lingerie powerhouse Victoria's Secret runs commercials, well, all of the time. Same old, same old ... right? Wrong. Network executives at FOX and ABC balked at the ad and placed unreasonable restrictions on its use.

ABC, it seems, refused to air the commercial during Dancing with the Stars and limited the number of times the ad could be shown overall. (Though ABC is now claiming it did not reject the ad, other reports say Lane Bryant is right and ABC is just trying to save face.) FOX, on the other hand, demanded edit after edit. The network rejected the ad three times before Lane Bryant threatened to cancel plans to buy ad time altogether. FOX ultimately decided to let it air during the last ten minutes of American Idol.

So what, exactly, was so objectionable in the Lane Bryant ad? Watch the ad here and judge for yourself.

If you ask me, it isn't anything we haven't seen before in countless Victoria's Secret ads. Well, except there's one thing in the Lane Bryant ad that we've never seen in a Victoria's Secret commercial: a plus-sized woman. And let's not kid ourselves, that's what this is all about. You can't honestly tell me that ABC had a legitimate concern over sex appeal and cleavage during Dancing with the Stars, for crying out loud. Have you seen the costumes the women on that show wear?

It is no wonder that Lane Bryant is saying that this all smacks of a double standard. It is appalling, but sadly not surprising, that network television executives who have no problem airing commercials and television programs with scantily clad thin women suddenly squirm when the women in question are fuller figured. I look forward to the day when women of all sizes and shapes are allowed to be sexy without judgment. I just won't hold my breath waiting.

Photo credit: Dyanna

Roxann MtJoy is a freelance writer who previously worked as a case manager at a domestic violence shelter. She is currently attending graduate school for theater in Mount Vernon, N.Y.
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