Sports Illustrated and Body Image
In case you missed it there’s going to be a plus-size model in the next issue of Sports Illustrated’s “fabulous swimsuit issue.” In a move that is two-parts PR daring and three-parts boomeranging spin control, the magazine that has been a feminist target for decades has chosen to embrace one of the most prominent feminist tropes of modern times— that plus-size women can be sexy and healthy.
The point of this post, is to underscore some of the PR points SI has scored in deciding to go this route. First, it is getting credit for, essentially, making a profit. Ashley Graham, the plus-sized model, featured in the magazine is not in a pinup. She’s in an advertisement. Yep. A paid advertisement. But that hasn’t stopped SI from basking in the glow of adulation from folks who have longed to see a bigger gal grace the pages of the swimsuit issue.
Never mind that Kate Upton, who is, by American standards, not typical model skinny and has been one of the issue’s hottest stars for years. Graham is larger than Upton, but, according to the reaction the announcement has generated, it is Graham who is more in line with the “average woman.� And these are just two of the myriad web of spin-off angles that have been generated by this single advertisement that, has not even been published yet.
By allowing this conversation to take on a life of its own, Sports Illustrated has created a constant, self-feeding loop of free advertising for its upcoming issue. And, remember, that free PR all began because of a PAID ADVERTISEMENT. So, the magazine allows a company to place an ad. A brand that knew full well the move would earn it priceless PR points. Then, SI, no slouch in the PR game, decided to ride that very PR wave far, far away from the conversations that normally happen in the days and weeks leading up to the release of its annual Babes in Bikinis (or nothing) issue.
Consider, SI recently released the cover shot for the issue. It’s another gorgeous and typically thin fantasy pinup. Not an ounce of fat anywhere but her bra. Typically, this news event is greeted with wailing and gnashing of teeth, followed by incessant frothing from the Usual Suspects. But instead of raging against the cover, people are lining up to high five the model in the advertisement. Well played, Sports Illustrated. Very well played.
Jonah Engler is a New York based entrepreneur and coffee lover – who avidly reads Sports Illustrated.