#AerieREAL: Exploring the Tactics of Using Authentic Images in Branding of Young Women’s Fashion Companies

Abstract

This thesis explores themes of authenticity in the Aerie REAL branding campaign. In it, I explore how Aerie links notions of authenticity, expressed as a vocal denunciation of photo-editing techniques, with the ideal female body. To do this, I analyze Aerie’s branding materials (including social media posts on two different websites, as well as Aerie product photography) in context of its lack of photo-editing and other branding choices, including its choice of brand spokesperson. I consider these materials within a semiotic framework developed from the French school of semiotics, and analyze them both through this framework and a content analysis. I also consider concepts of Aerie’s brand personality. In this study I illuminate many of the tensions between Aerie’s explicit goals in its REAL campaign and what it has presented within the campaign. This has implications for future representations of women in advertising, as well as the use of authenticity as a brand position.