Chico’s So Slimming Jeans for the Already Slim
August 27, 2012 at 9:26 am | Posted in TV (The Boob Tube) | 19 CommentsTags: advertisements, Battle the Bulge, Body Image, Chico's, Commercial, diet, False Advertising, Love Handles, nutrition, slenderizing, So Slimming Jeans, Twinkies
As you know, dear reader(s), it’s been a while since I last blogged, so you can bet I have some pent-up inconsequential angst to share. Today I’d like to take out my irrational wrath on the Chico’s So Slimming™ commercials.
Wow! Chico’s So Slimming(TM) Jeans make skinny women look skinny!
As a gal with fairly obvious love handles (I wouldn’t want love to just slip away – it needs something to hold on to!) and who has been pretty open about battling my own personal bulge, I’m the target audience for such slenderizing apparel*.
You know who doesn’t need said minimizing pantaloons? The lady dancing like a fool in their commercials (which air CONSTANTLY, I might add).
Click here for one of the ads I’m talking about…
I can practically see this little dancing diva’s hip bones!! Honestly, Chico’s, let’s get real. Advertising slimming jeans on a skinny lady does NOTHING for your target customer except perhaps generate resentment.
You want to prove these pants are worth their weight in advertising claims? Put a REAL woman in the pants! And for Twinkies’ sake, quit perpetuating the stereotype that even the healthiest of women could still stand to lose a few lbs. (or at least appear as if she has lost that last pesky ounce – that she’s sure everyone notices – thanks to these miracle pants)! Enough!
Shame on you, Chico’s!
* Though granted, perhaps a decade or two too young for this particular brand.
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Hi! So – not to be creepy, but I just found you via Melanie Papasian…and I commented because that commercial fills me with the same SCORN and RAGE! Glad I’m not the only one who noticed the ridiculousness of that spot. 🙂
And hey – love handles = a life well-lived, right? At least that’s what I tell myself!
Comment by meg stellman— September 24, 2012 #
Hi Meg! Not creepy at all!! It’s so nice to hear that I’m not the only one ENRAGED by this commercial! Seriously, Chico’s – not cool!!!
I always say you can’t be loved without love handles! Sing it, sister!!
Comment by Sarah— September 24, 2012 #
You guys are practically neighbors! Are you meeting up for cocktails/mocktails to continue the Chico’s rant?? 🙂
Comment by Melanie Papasian— September 24, 2012 #
Meeting up to plot the downfall of Chico’s advertising sounds dreamy, Mel 🙂 Thanks so much for sending your friends my way – it’s awfully nice to know I’m not the only gal with retail wrath 😉
Comment by Sarah— September 24, 2012 #
I, too, am a friend of Melanie’s and am enraged! We discussed this issue thoroughly over the course of several long car rides in the past week. Chico’s sucks anyway. I have a fun game that I played with my sister once wherein I asked if she’d rather be banished from all stores except for Chico’s or Talbots and she had to pick one of the two for her entire wardrobe to come from there. She incorrectly picked Chico’s.
And hey, not that I’ve ever been inside a store of theirs for longer than two minutes, but don’t they use that weird 0-1-2-3 sizing? How am I supposed to choose from just FOUR SIZES OF PANTS?
Comment by HKRB— September 24, 2012 #
I have an idea. Let’s coordinate an East Coast egging of Chico’s! I call the South Shore Plaza in Massachusetts.
Comment by meg stellman— September 24, 2012 #
Forget egging, let’s throw something even less healthy at ’em! Can you Twinkie a store? I’ll take MetroWest! 🙂
Comment by Sarah— September 24, 2012 #
Hi HKRB, Thanks for reading and sharing my angst! Four sizes do NOT fit all, and skinny models in slimming pants should NOT be screwing with our heads. Chico’s should be ashamed!
PS Your sister chose SO wrong 😉 Poor dear.
Comment by Sarah— September 24, 2012 #
I agree with most of what you’re saying…except the “real woman” phrase. Just because a person isn’t overweight doesn’t make him or her fake/imaginary. That person has feelings and insecurities and dreams too.
Signed, A Skinny Girl Turned Curvy Mommy
Comment by Sass— March 3, 2013 #
Sass, that’s a totally fair point – thank you for making it. Let me clarify: of course thin gals are “real” – we’re all real! What I meant when I wrote the phrase was that Chico’s should have put an every day gal in the pants; by real I meant a non-traditionally-sized model, not an imaginary female. Thank you for helping me clarify!
Comment by Sarah— March 3, 2013 #
Totally agree. Just saw that commercial and had to google to see if anyone else hates it as much as I do.
Comment by Copperhead— March 7, 2013 #
Thanks, Copperhead! So glad I’m not alone in my annoyance 🙂
Comment by Sarah— March 29, 2013 #
I am a normal sized man and I googled the commercial just because I think it is so ridiculous that they are selling slimming pants on an obviously skinny woman. WTF? They are naturally going to look slimming on a woman so skinny.
Comment by Mark— March 29, 2013 #
Amen, Mark! I can’t believe they’re still airing these commercials… grumble grumble.
Comment by Sarah— March 29, 2013 #
I appreciate well done commercials and I generally ignore the rest but that Chico’s commercial just makes me mad, to the point that I have to switch channels because just muting it off won’t do. Glad to read I’m not the only one who hates it. I hope Chico’s marketing team is paying attention. I don’t have to be rocket scientist to figure out why they used a skinny woman to model a pair of “slimming pants.” Because on a curvy woman like me, they don’t “slim” at all. Never buying Chico’s.
Comment by Jess— May 8, 2013 #
I hope their marketing team is paying attention, too! Amen, Jess!
Comment by Sarah— May 8, 2013 #
I enjoy what you guys are up too. This type of clever work and reporting!
Keep up the great works guys I’ve incorporated
you guys to my blogroll.
Comment by webpage— January 7, 2014 #
I absolutely hate those commercials, not only because she’s dancing around like a freaking idiot, but what is the target demographic for this brand? Older than 35? Why do they insist on using this woman and ONLY this woman in their commercials for the last 5 years?? Is there no one they can get who might be between, say, 45-60?? And don’t get me started on the fact that she’s already a size 4 and needs no slimming of any kind. All that aside, her face just bugs the crap out of me. She’s got an insane-clown smile and jerks around like she’s got scabies. Yuck.
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