Ed Razek is ranting. He’s infuriated with those

Ed Razek is ranting. He’s infuriated with those who say his sexy Victoria’s Secret ads pander to men. He insists that women are the vast majority who pay attention—and regularly TiVo—the scenes of supermodels dancing in their Victoria’s Secret bras. But doubters “don’t want to listen to the facts. They already have an agenda and a predisposition, and their information is wrong,” he barks.

Creative director at Victoria’s Secret since the mid-1990s, Razek says 98 percent of its customers are female, most of its executives are women and two-thirds of the viewers of its televised fashion shows are female. “We don’t do salacious shots that women would not like,” he says. “I am always respectful of my audience and how to reach them.”

Razek, 58, has been the senior creative on Victoria’s Secret for 10 years. Now CMO of creative services of Limited Brands, Victoria Secret’s parent, he spends about 40 percent of his time on Victoria’s Secret, overseeing an in-house group of about 100 creatives who create up to 20 spots a year. A career of working around gorgeous young models in exotic locales may impress his college chums at Ohio State, but it doesn’t fascinate him much. “It’s the job we do,” he says.

His recent work is getting more assertive in staking its claim. In the spot for the Ipex wireless bra, model Gisele Bundchen undulates on a stage flooded with gold light with video screens and “IPEX” in huge letters in the background “A good ad is not ambivalent,” he explains. “It quickly establishes who you are, gets into the product’s attributes and aspirations, and then gets out, leaving you wanting to record it the next time it runs.”

“Ed’s work has teeth,” adds Julie Stone, director of broadcast production, who has worked with Razek for five years. “His ads have shock value and intensity. You can’t miss them.”

Off the job, Razek channels some of his creative drive into architectural and interior design projects. Most of the year he still lives in Columbus, Ohio, where he worked as a copywriter at a boutique ad agency fresh out of college. “I’m an Ohio boy who never left town,” he says. “And I still think an ad isn’t creative unless it sells.”