It’s no secret – Victoria’s Secret has got lots of panties in a knot.

Their Pink brand slogan, “Bright Young Things," may not be so bright after all considering the online freakout developing, including Facebook posts accusing Victoria’s Secret of inappropriately targeting pre-teens and objectifying young females with its sexy young line.

Under fire too is Pink’s under things, including lace-trimmed thongs with I Dare You and Call Me emblazoned on the front, and polka-dot hipsters reading Feeling Lucky on the back.

Although Victoria’s Secret has responded by saying "Bright Young Things" is aimed at college-aged women, their CFO told a conference in January: “When somebody’s 15 or 16 years old, what do they want to be? They want to be older, and they want to be cool like the girl in college, and that’s part of the magic of what we do at Pink.”

It’s black magic for many who are unhappy about the unhealthy messaging and images of scantily clad, provocatively posed, ultra-thin young models bombarding our young girls, providing them with endless fodder for thinspiration online forums.

The push to brand girls younger and younger is rampant and was highly evident when baby-faced Justin Bieber appeared on the runway for the Pink portion of a Victoria’s Secret fashion show in December, surrounded by models in brightly-coloured skivvies.

Bieber’s fans are the 14 and under set. And so too Pink fans. Colourful Pink push-up bras start at 30A. Training bras these aren’t! College women sizing it’s not.

Young girls are the path to mega profits – they’ve got buying power but Victoria’s Secret is hardly alone. Uber-sexualized marketing is an industry wide phenomenon. The tween market is worth billions and edgier teen retailers are tapping into this market with lingerie lines. But not all moms have an issue – one blogger recently posted that she’s looking forward to her nine-year-old daughter wearing Victoria’s Secret’s sexy things.

“No one wants to be the girl with the ugly underwear at camp or slumber parties,” says Jenny Erikson who claims Victoria’s Secret is a rite of passage and is amused by the stir.

Teen body image experts are not amused. “The whole title of "Bright Young Things" makes me sick,” says teen expert Dr. Mary Jo Rapini of maryjorapini.com. “Victoria’s Secret is basically exploiting young girls by telling them their value is only in their ability to be sexual and seduce a boyfriend. What hogwash!”

Dr. Barbara Greenberg is greatly concerned about sexualizing young teens who have very little idea about the impact of their sexuality on the opposite sex.

“The use of the word ‘bright’ is very concerning because of the implication that wearing this line is associated with ‘brightness’ or intelligence,” says Greenberg, of drbarbaragreenberg.com. This increased emphasis on sexuality at younger ages will inevitably contribute to earlier onset of anxiety, depression and eating disorders as young girls are trying to live up to all sorts of expectations, adds Greenberg. “The coupling of their age and this sexuality is a recipe for disaster.