You know me, cultural critic of advertising’s messages and tools. Meh, I accept this.
What are your thoughts on Men’s Fitness’ photo list of highlights from fitness print ads? I like the Powerhouse Gym’s use of cranes, and The Fitness Company’s depiction of a gym lifting on a subway train. Both are about positive additions to one’s life and health and strength.
But the others, the Slim Fast disappearing act and the Weight Watcher’s wide door ads seem a little unsettling and, well, dangerous and mean-spirited, respectively. Where the gym ads are constructive and about strength, the weight-based ads seem to work off linking comfort/embarrassment and size. And, the Slim Fast ad was too close to the controversy several years ago around the ProForm collapsible treadmill ad which declared “Soon, you’ll both be taking up less space“… which I’ve always thought was in bad taste.
Anyway, the things to consider is that while Men’s Fitness lumped all of these ads together as “fitness ads”, a distinction should be made that there are weight loss ads and conditioning ads. Often linked, but still not the same topic.
Let us discuss.
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You’re right–weight loss is not the same as fitness. And the ones that are potentially offensive might not be so if we didn’t have an enormous issue with body image in this country. There’s a culture of incredibly unhealthy skinniness, easily seen in magazines, television, movies–everywhere. It’s ubiquitous in our entertainment media, and its reach and influence terrifies me. Truly.
Having said all that, I think I’d like a boomerang made of bacon. But damn I love bacon.