Under Armour "pretty" guilty of copying another brand

By

Cassidy Mantor

Published
Mar 23, 2017

Under Armour is facing serious backlash on social media and a potential lawsuit for seemingly plagiarizing the ad campaign of a smaller West Coast brand rooted in women's sport history, Too Pretty.

In its newest "I'm pretty" women's campaign, Under Armour is trying to challenge the stereotype that women must be pretty.

Attica Jaques, UA's VP for brand management explained, the #impretty campaign was "created to inspire women athletes [and] challenge the idea of 'just a pretty face,' recognizing that beauty runs much deeper than what is visible from the outside."

It may be a noble message except Too Pretty, a smaller lifestyle and fitness brand born out of the sport of female boxing, has already been using that campaign strategy since 2015. It even has a line called Never Too Pretty, where it challenges consumers to hold up a cardboard sign and fill in the blank of what they are "never too pretty to" do or be.

Cary Williams, founder of Too Pretty, notes that "the similarities are stark."

Instagram users jumped to accuse UA of plagiarism, pointing out the campaigns seem way too similar and not just coincidence.

Some pointed users called UA out saying it's "''pretty' guilty of plagiarism" and that UA has "betray[ed] the support and credit that [it] should be giving to the woman, small business owner [of Too Pretty brand] and professional trainer."

It does seem more than just a coincidence, as UA also shares an athlete sponsorship with a Too Pretty athlete. Olympic boxer Mikaela Mayer was first a Too Pretty athlete, and she is now signed with both brands.

As Williams points out, "before anyone brings an athlete onto their team, they look very thoroughly at their social media. I’m sure UA saw her post."

Williams noted that to be true to her brand and the community she's built with Too Pretty, she feels she must stand up. She hopes to reach an agreement with Under Armour in light of the obvious similarities in the campaigns and reasonable likelihood that UA got its inspiration from seeing the social media post for Too Pretty's campaign of their shared athlete.