Portas and Sainsbury's remind customers that “All Boobs Matter”

Supermarket giant Sainsbury’s has worked with creative communications agency Portas to launch a new campaign aimed at combating what they consider “unrealistic views” of women’s bodies in contemporary advertising.

The #allboobswelcome campaign sees Sainsbury’s in-store clothing brand TU celebrating, well, boobs of all shapes and sizes. It is a follow-up to its recent Denim For Every Body campaign which hoped to make women feel comfortable in their jeans.

“Advertising is way out of touch with what women want. Especially when it comes to bras,” says Zara Ineson, creative director at Portas. “Our research showed that 71% of women felt typical lingerie advertising appealed to men and we knew it was time to get real. So we flipped it. Together with TU we created a campaign that celebrates ‘normal’ boobs – no matter what shape or size they come, the ones which life has gifted us. From our cast of real women to the all-female shoot and film crew – this campaign is exactly as it should be. One where all boobs are welcome.”

Portas’ studies show that 76% of women want to see more body diversity in lingerie advertising and so the campaign was born. It combines handwritten love letters to customer’s own boobs with drawings of said boobs and street-cast photo shoots and video spots featuring women discussing their relationship to self-image.

“This February, we want to redress the balance, with powerful visuals and messaging to inspire confidence and encourage women to embrace their bodies just the way they are,” notes TU’s head of campaign management, Helen McGrath. “When it comes to communicating about bras, we’re going to celebrate the normality of the nation’s knockers. No matter what we call them, no matter what size or shape they are, at TU all boobs are welcome.”