American Eagle and their lingerie brand, Aerie, are being sued by a group of distraught supermodels and digital manipulation specialists after the clothing company decided they would no longer be requiring their services.
In January of 2014, American Eagle announced their Aerie Real campaign with a number of photographs on their website and Facebook page that announced “The girl in this photo has not been retouched,” followed by, “The real you is sexy.”
In another photo the company explained there would be “no more retouching our girls and no more supermodels.”
It was that last part that hit a nerve for the plaintiffs. They are suing for wrongful termination and breach of contract, as well as seeking damages for social, emotional, and mental distress.
Supermodel Elizabeth Stamatina said, “They’re literally calling us ugly. If they fired us and replaced us with non-sexy people they’re calling sexy, then what are we? They’re literally saying we’re not sexy. It’s literally bullying.”
Elaborated, Meredith Massach, “These girls don’t even know what they’re doing. They don’t know how to sit or lean or tuck or squeeze. They don’t have the training or the lifestyle. I mean, not to be rude, but that blond one clearly eats breakfast!”
“And also,” said Stamatina, “you don’t fire supermodels. I didn’t stop being sexy. I’m fulfilling my duties.”
“It’s honestly gross to look at these photos,” said visual alterationist Ben High. “It would take seconds to turn this one from her husky size two to a respectable double-zero. I can blink and it’s done. This one’s earlobe distracts from everything else. I can fix that!”
“And also,” added Stamatina, “They’re acting like ‘Supermodel’ is a bad word, but it’s like um hi! It’s not so bad when I’m taking pictures with athletes and dating Leonardo DiCaprio. So, what exactly is your problem?”
Jerome Fieve, veteran graphic designer, added, “It’s just insulting to have someone tell you that ‘real’ is better than perfection. I’ve spent my life creating perfection. These pictures and these girls are far from it.”
When asked to comment on the campaign’s new photos, a passerby said, “Whoa, boobs!”
Jordan Lints
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