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ForestEthics launched the Victoria’s Dirty Secret campaign on October 14th, 2004 in San Francisco. VictoriasDirtySecret.net, the campaign website, was soon to follow, along with coverage by the Wall Street Journal.
With
successful protests at Victoria’s Secret’s Angels Across America tour
in November and the first Victoria’s Dirty Secret Day of Action on
December 2nd, the campaign was in full swing.
A full-page ad in the New York Times in January 2005 drew even more attention to the campaign, leading to coverage by the Today Show and USA Today
that was picked up by other media outlets across the country.
Victoria’s Secret took notice, and a dialogue opened up between Limited
Brands and ForestEthics.
 Momentum
for the campaign grew with more actions throughout the year, including
the April Day of Action, balloon banners, and the Unitarian
Universalists joining in the fray. And in May the Limited Brands
shareholders meeting was met with protesters and a giant light mural.
 The campaign continued to gain recognition with a second full-page New York Times ad in October and another day of action in November. Cultural icon Reverend Billy and his Church of Stop Shopping joined the protest at the Victoria’s Secret fashion show in New York. And in December 2005 Time Magazine featured the campaign.
ForestEthics
had a record number of actions on the April 11th, 2006 Day of Action.
There were 225 actions against Victoria’s Secret, ranging from call-ins
and letter deliveries to larger protests.
Change-a-lujah!
Reverend Billy joined us again in May along with Free the Planet at OSU for the Limited Brands
shareholders meeting in Columbus, Ohio. He was accompanied by
activists, a mobile billboard, and giant puppets.
VictoriasDirtySecret.net
went viral as it climbed higher and higher on Google searches for
Victoria’s Secret. After almost a year as the second item on the list
it received its millionth visitor on December 1, 2006.
 In
the fall of 2006 the intensity of the campaign stepped up with rolling
actions happening every week across the country. Groups other than
ForestEthics also got involved. Many of these garnered media
attention, most notably the Catalogs Without Clearcuts action in
Manhattan where two activists locked themselves to a Victoria’s Secret.
This action alone was covered by CBS, ABC, WPIX, The New York Times,
The Village Voice, and other outlets outside of New York City.
The
public portion of the Victoria’s Secret campaign ended on December 6,
2006. After two years of campaigning Victoria’s Secret reached an
agreement with ForestEthics and signed a new paper contract.
Now the campaign is entering the implementation phase. To find out more about the catalog campaign go to ForestEthics’ catalog page.
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