Warning: This article contains images of nudity which may offend some readers.
On February 9, the German company Adidas published on its various platforms a photo montage featuring 25 pairs of bare breasts where it is possible to see the nipples. Almost two weeks later, the post continues to be debated on social media.
The aim of this campaign is to promote the brand’s new line of sports bras with the three stripes. Wishing to highlight the variety of models (43) and sizes (72, ranging from 2XS to 4X), Adidas photographed dozens of bare breasts, of different types: drooping, raised, small, medium, large, spread breasts , glued, “stretch marks”, pointed, round… You can see everything, even with regard to skin color and the size of the cells, in order to show that the new models are suitable for all women.
The posts were accompanied by the hashtag #SupportlsEverything, which refers to the support that this underwear provides, but also to the support given to the feminist cause and the campaign “Free the nipple” (“Liberer le téton”), which aims to legitimize both legally and culturally the view of a female breast in public, in the same way as that of a man.
The ad obviously didn’t go under the radar, earning it both praise and criticism.
Quickly, comments poured in under the various publications. Many women have praised the company for taking a stand and assuming this idea, despite the policies of the various social networks regarding nudity. In addition, nipples have been blurred on Instagram, while Twitter has added a warning warning Internet users of sensitive content.
Some women commented that this photo helped them design the breast varieties better. One user even wrote a tweet that read: “If I had seen that Adidas boob ad when I was a teenager, I would have thought my body was normal and I would be probably fell in love with running a decade earlier. »
If I had seen that Adidas boob ad when I was a teenager, I would have felt like my body was normal and probably would have fallen in love with running a decade earlier. (Though I guess I would have also had the internet and would’ve ruined my life in several other ways.)
— SecretlyStephie (@SecretlyStephie) February 15, 2022
Adidas Sins
Although many women share this opinion, including the newspaper columnist The Guardian Arwa Mahdawi, not everyone is in favor of the diffusion of bare breasts on the Web.
There are those who accuse the company of advertising opportunism, accusing it of having only wanted to make money by creating a controversy. Since it is a company, which therefore has capitalist aims, this hypothesis, which has proven its effectiveness on several occasions, could be proven.
Other Internet users are outraged by the dissemination of nudity, indicating that it simply has no place on social networks.
The American Christian Pastor Brian Sauvé wrote this on Twitter, the day before the launch of the Adidas campaign: “Dear ladies, there is no reason to publish photos of you wearing low-cut shirts, bikinis, bras and other underwear, or anything similar, ever. Nor to show off your weight loss journey. Nor to show off your newborn. Nor to document your birth history. [Signé] Your brothers. »
Adidas took to this tweet the next day to respond: “Dear Brian, all bodies should be celebrated and supported, without shame or exception. #SupportIsEverything”. While this response generated thousands of likes and shares, some wonder if Adidas launched its campaign on this date, seizing the opportunity to create another controversy. The company did not follow up on this rumor.
Sexualization of the female breast
Apart from the pastor, many other netizens condemn the post. One of them ran the ad, specifically the 64-breasted format that can be seen on the company’s website, which is displayed in the streets of London, stating that it was pornography .
This reflection is intimately linked to the debate on the sexualization of the breasts which is at the heart of the “Free the nipple” movement. To indicate that topless photos represent pornography is to say that they are obscenities and therefore gross manifestations of sexuality.
This debate has been going on for several years now. He comes back to the fore in particular when it comes to breastfeeding women in public.