Guess that I'm glad I'm not the parent of the 15 year old girl the skanky underpants are targeted to.
I'm not going to say that wearing a thong limits a girl's potential... all I will say is this: I still remember being 17, 18.... still confused about relationships with very immature boys and determined to stay a virgin at least until I was out of high school... I can imagine that sexy lingerie for some girls, (who are not of age to vote or drink or even drive legally-- 15, that is) is still a bit confusing. I'm not expecting VS to take responsibility for the parents and teaching our kids to value themselves, but I also consider that most 15-20 year olds are not prepared to have babies and raise them. So, maybe the 'dress sexy in clothes which suggest availability but keep it in your pants' is still confusing at that age?
And as I said before, I wouldn't allow my son, even in his later teens, to wear underpants which said "ride this", even if it WAS being marketed to older kids. These brands know what they are doing == marketing up and selling 'down' to younger ages.
Yep, grumpy conservative mom here... (added-- politically and socially liberal mom with conservative views on appearance and conduct.)
ETA: I understand your point, that the backlash was caused by incorrect reporting. That's fine. The fact that it wasn't reported correctly originally doesn't make me relieved about the fact that our young women are becoming introduced to sexy lingerie at ever younger ages, esp from when I was a teen. It's still troubling. Your link offered a link to a very compelling article, so I'll offer that back...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-carter-phd/those-...
I understand that you made no comments about the larger picture, but it is a natural thing to bring up, given the context of your post. Just because something is reported incorrectly doesn't make unsettling news any less unsettling.