I’m always up for a good joke, but Aerie’s April Fool’s Day gag was was pretty sh*tty…and ultimately blew up in their face.
On March 24, a full week before April Fool’s Day, Aerie launched #aerieMAN- an extension of their wildly popular #aerieREAL campaign. Men in a variety of shapes and sizes posed in front of the camera in a series of videos using the slogan, “The real you is sexy.”
Certainly men struggle with body image, but it’s not often discussed- which is why people were all about what American Eagle’s lingerie brand was trying to do. Unfortunately, once they announced it was actually a parody, the Internet flipped. Naturally.
#AerieMAN makes a joke out of inclusive body positivity… Okay? Real hilarious… I'm rolling
— Tyler ♿ (@CrippleTheKid) April 3, 2016
So apparently the #AerieMAN campaign was a parody. Sorry, @Aerie, but I'm missing the part where it was funny. https://t.co/fv3UEGsx8F
— Melissa A. Fabello, PhD (@fyeahmfabello) April 1, 2016
Whoever decided #AerieMAN was best used as a joke other than a serious campaign has gravely mistaken what freaking year they are in
— Fawn Mead (@xFAWNx) April 1, 2016
https://twitter.com/dom_clark/status/715987348232777728
I don't get what's funny about the #AerieMAN "prank." I'd LOVE to see more body-positivity campaigns for men.
— Persian Introversion (@typicalfeminist) April 1, 2016
Male👏 body 👏 positivity 👏 is 👏 not 👏 a 👏 joke. #AerieMAN
— Team Rocket Grunt D.J. (@OhHeyDJ) April 1, 2016
Aerie did give a half-assed apology, at least.
“Some aspects of
#AerieMAN were just for laughs, but we take body positivity VERY seriously: http://on.ae.com/1PK1xAc,” they said in a tweet.
Hey Aerie, guess what? Joke’s on you because that “joke” was actually a good idea and probably would’ve driven more business. Now it looks like you’ll be losing customers. 🙋
