Victoria´s Secret and Lane Bryant:

production of meanings of thin and obese bodies in advertising discourse

Abstract

In this paper, we address the possibilities of counter-hegemonic strategies in media, especially under the mark communication. We develop our reflection from a media controversy, which shows a war of images between two American lingerie brands: Victoria's Secret and Lane Bryant. We aim to problematize the discursive movements and the production of social meanings related to thin bodies and fat bodies, as well as  the meanings attributed to brands, from a theoretical and methodological support of French discourse analysis in dialogue with reflections on the brand, the image and imagination.