+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
Identity

American Eagle underwear had an increase in sales. These 10 unretouched pics are maybe a clue why.

WARNING: Scrolling through these images may give you positive feelings about yourself.

aerie, body positivity, body image
via aerie/Instagram

Aerie's untouched models.

This article originally appeared on 07.17.15


About a year ago, clothing brand American Eagle's underwear line, Aerie, stopped retouching photos of their models.

As their CEO Jennifer Foyle said in a statement in 2014, "There is no need to retouch beauty."

The results were beautiful.

And profitable.

After putting the nix on retouching, quarterly comparable sales for Aerie were up 9%.

9% for that quarter. The next quarter, Q3 of 2014, up only 3% in comparable sales. But then in the next two quarters? Up 13% and 12% . Coincidence? Maybe. But I like to think it has to do with things like this pic:

The brand uses the hashtag #AerieReal to let its fans know that the photos remain unretouched.

Model Iskra Lawrence, featured below kicking around on the beach, told Elle :

"I love my body and really don't see myself as a size but more of a shape."

Aerie clearly agrees!

She's featured in ads aplenty. Unretouched, of course!

Aerie also agrees that backs are beautiful.

Stomachs being stomachs are cool by them, too!

Don't freak out, but Aerie also agrees that real butts look like real butts.

Yes, some of these models have what the mainstream already traditionally thinks of as "great" bodies. But for some reason, the usual practice is to airbrush and retouch even THAT.

These photos show that there's no such thing as a "perfect" body; ALL bodies have moments of #realness. And there's nothing wrong with showing that. That's what I love about them and what I love about this campaign.

And to their credit, in case the model bodies don't do it for you, the brand has also posted photos of non-model, everyday women using the hashtag #AerieReal to spotlight the glory that is the unretouched photo on all types of shapes and sizes.

Frankly, no one needs Aerie to tell them that it's OK for them to have a body and to love it without a filter. But if you ask me, more brands could get OUT of the game of body shaming and INTO the game of body positivity like Aerie.

And if Aerie is any example, body positivity is profit positivity.

I can agree with that!

From Your Site Articles
body positivity
Innovation

This organization is revolutionizing food supply chains to minimize waste

Spoiler Alert pairs CPG manufacturers with discount retailers to keep food out of landfills

Members of the Spoiler Alert team volunteer at Waltham Fields Community Farm in Waltham, MA

Nearly 120 billion pounds of food go to waste in the U.S. each year. This waste not only contributes to food insecurity, which millions of Americans are impacted by, but also has a detrimental impact on our climate. In large part, this comes down to a misallocation of resources.

We need to bridge the gap between food waste, the planet, and those in need. By doing so, we can drive sustainable food systems and get food to those who need it most. In fact, Project Drawdown has found that reducing food waste is the number one most impactful solution to climate change.

The foundations of Spoiler Alert were laid during my time at MIT Sloan in 2013 when I met my soon-to-be co-founder Emily Malina. With my consulting experience with brands and retailers on carbon, water, energy and waste initiatives and Emily’s background in supply chain transformation and technology adoption, we knew there was a supply chain solution that could help businesses better manage their food waste. That’s when we started Spoiler Alert.

Ricky Ashenfelter & Emily Malina, Co-founders of Spoiler Alert

Spoiler Alert is a B2B waste prevention software that helps CPG brands better manage excess and short dated inventory. This inventory arises from various sources, whether that’s overproduction, unsuccessful innovations, seasonal items, or promotional packaging.

Keep Reading Show less
planet
Science

Why did the Titan submarine implode, but the Titanic made it to the ocean floor intact?

Why did one implode and the other didn't?

via NOAA/Wikimedia Commons

The hull of the Titanic.

The violent implosion of the Titan submersible on the way to visit the Titanic captured people’s attention across the globe. It brought up a lot of conversations about social class, the vehicle's questionable construction and the haunting history of death surrounding the Titanic itself.

For those of us who don’t work in oceanography or physics, it also brought up a lot of questions about underwater implosion. A big one circulating among conspiracy theorists and confused laypeople alike: Why did the Titan implode while the Titanic didn’t?

The Titan submersible is understood to have disintegrated in milliseconds somewhere neat a depth of 11,500 feet . In comparison, we can still see most of the wreckage of the Titanic 12,500 feet down on the ocean floor.

Keep Reading Show less
titanic
Humor

Heinz triggers all of the internet with a single tweet: 'Ketchup. goes. in. the. fridge!!!'

People are absolutely taking sides.

Erik Mclean|Canva

Heinz starts an argument by declaring ketchup goes in the fridge

People feel very strongly about their condiments. No matter what condiment there is someone either loves it or hates it but one of the biggest debates on the food toppers is how to store them. Yeah, that might sound a bit strange because everyone knows open condiments are stored in the pantry, unless its hot sauce, right? Whoa, calm down. I'm only kidding. I don't make the rules Heinz does, apparently.

They do make the condiments so it would be assumed that we would look to them to know how to store the products they make. But the people of Twitter are daring to argue with Heinz after the condiment giant posted a controversial tweet that declared ketchup does in fact belong in the fridge. This bold tweet is dividing the internet.

"Heinz don't even know where their product should be stored," one person declared. While another claimed, "Never, ever has it gone in my fridge, nor anybody else's." Who's going to tell these people to read the back of the bottle?

Keep Reading Show less
ketchup debate
Pop Culture

John Cena is being praised for the polite way he asked a fan to leave him alone

A fan came up and asked the actor to say a catchphrase from his wrestling days.

@alex99rocks/ TikTok

Sometimes you just wanna enjoy some time with your friends.

Look, it happens to the best of us. We see a celebrity that we love out and about in the wild. Our excitement takes hold, and we rush up to our icons hoping they might deliver a bit of that same joy we experience from them on the screen. For a moment, the lines blur between fantasy and reality, and we forget that we are dealing with an actual human being, rather than a character.

Well known celebrities deal with this kind of social interaction all the time, whether they want it or not. And many times, they have to resort to expressing frustration in order to set a boundary. It doesn’t take a very long internet search to find public figures losing their cool at a fan who couldn’t pick up a hint.

That’s why people are praising John Cena for the way he respectfully handled a fan who might have overstepped a bit. Once a Peacemaker, always a Peacemaker it seems.

Keep Reading Show less
kindess
Pop Culture

Guy with a metal detector astonished to find a ring that belonged to the Sheriff of Nottingham

It was authenticated by experts from the British Museum.

via Unsplash

English metal detector hobbyist finds a real treasure near Nottingham.

A retired merchant navy engineer in England has found a treasure that would have made his country’s most popular folk hero proud. Graham Harrison, a 64-year-old metal detector enthusiast, discovered a gold signet ring that once belonged to the Sheriff of Nottingham.

The discovery was made on a farm in Rushcliffe, Nottinghamshire, 26.9 miles from Sherwood Forest. The forest is known worldwide for being the mythological home of Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. A central road that traversed the forest was notorious in Medieval times for being an easy place for bandits to rob travelers going to and from London.

Keep Reading Show less
pop culture
Pop Culture

Christopher Walken dancing in over 50 movies all perfectly spliced into a single music video

Most people don’t know he studied dance as a child.

via YouTube

These days, we could all use something to smile about, and few things do a better job at it than watching actor Christopher Walken dance.

A few years back, some genius at HuffPo Entertainment put together a clip featuring Walken dancing in 50 of his films, and it was taken down. But it re-emerged in 2014 and the world has been a better place for it.

Keep Reading Show less
dance
Family

Mom’s reaction to toddler giving herself a haircut shows the power of 'gentle parenting'

"Seriously, this is impressive parenting."

Designerluxury4you TikTok

Mom's reaction to toddler's self haircut

An unsupervised toddler with a pair of scissors is nightmare fuel for parents.

Will you find shredded books, a hole in your new couch, or a pile of lopped off hair when you emerge from your quick trip to the potty?

Toddlers may still be very young, but they are fast and have a knack for getting ahold of unapproved things quickly, inflicting maximum destruction. TikTok user, @designerluxury4you , shared a video of their toddler proudly showing off the haircut she had given herself.

Experiencing your child giving themselves or their siblings a haircut seems to be a rite of passage for parents.

But the way this mom handled the discovery is showing how gentle parenting is changing the game. It's pretty safe to say that most parents would react in a more expressive way and immediately remove the scissors from the child's hands. This mom responded in the kindest and most respectful way you can imagine and maybe the internet is a little better for having seen it.

Keep Reading Show less
gentle parenting
Trending Stories