"I opened a Target catalogue today and saw myself for the first time."

“I saw this wonderful campaign of models wearing lingerie and I just felt so fantastic about my body.”

Ever heard this statement uttered from a woman’s lips? Neither. Not once.

In fact, I can honestly say that my usual thought pattern after seeing a lingerie ad, where all the models have the exact same Victoria’s-Secret-esque figure, is:

“I could never wear that. God, why did I eat that doughnut yesterday? Mm, doughnuts…”

But Target’s new campaign is helping to change that internal dialogue.

The Aussie clothing giant has released a Valentine’s Day lingerie catalogue and the beauty of it comes down to the women featured wearing the pretty bras and undies.

They’re sexy. They’re confident. And lo and behold, they all come in a range of different body shapes, skin colours, sizes and ages.

Yes, one of them, Mel Brady, has been a stylist for 30 years and she has the stunning grey hair to prove it.

Now I’m not saying there’s anything horrific at all about Elle Macpherson doppelgangers modelling lingerie, every woman is a “real” woman after all, as cliched as that sounds. But when this body type is the only one displayed in the ads we walk and scroll past, it can make women who don’t fit the mould feel bad about themselves.

Case in point? As a pear-shaped, small-boobed lady, I generally don’t see models who look like me in advertising.

When I do? I feel great, I can see how the product would work on me and I am more likely to want to buy it.

Which is exactly why I’m on board with the “Yay For Every Body” approach Target Australia has been adopting since August last year.

No, it’s not a token effort. A diverse array of models can be seen throughout their catalogues, print, digital and TV campaigns. In store, they’ve introduced size 16 mannequins.

It makes perfect sense – if you see yourself mirrored in advertising, you feel included. You feel accepted. You feel celebrated.

And you feel more inclined to spend dollars. It’s a clever marketing strategy and I’m surprised more companies aren’t adopting it.

A Target spokesperson told Mamamia they’re committed to celebrating the diversity of their customers.

“Our latest Valentine’s Day campaign is a small but vital step in continuing Target’s promise to make quality style and fashion not only more affordable but also more accessible and relevant for our customers,” they explained.

“Fantastic to see fuller figured and over 16 yrs [sic] modeling beautiful underwear, makes us all feel good about ourselves. Wonderful to see nice, trendy underwear instead of stuff that made me feel like a 95 yr old,” One woman commented.

Another chimed in: “Thank you, Target, for celebrating every body type and for clarifying that ALL your models are real and beautiful no matter their size. It’s insulting to say someone isn’t real because of their body shape or size but you always promote body positivity. Well done!”

Cha-ching. Clothing companies, are you listening?

FYI, this isn’t a sponsored post, we just really love this campaign.

What’s your take on this campaign?

Image: Target website.