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Everyone’s talking about...: Is healthy offensive?
Protein World caused massive controversy and widescale offence with its recent ‘beach body ready’ advert – in which the model, while slim, was healthy and toned. Are we losing sight of normal?
The recent Protein World ‘Beach Body’ advert – which was defaced on a mass scale, banned by the UK advertising watchdog and the subject of a campaign on Change.org – raises interesting issues.
Although the model is enviably – and unattainably for many – slim, she’s essentially healthy and toned. This in contrast to the waiflike, sickly-looking model in the controversial Yves St Laurent advert, which came out around the same time, who looked like she’d just collapsed.
Critics claimed the Beach Body ad was sexist and fat-shaming, presenting an unrealistic image of women’s bodies. However, although the ad was eventually banned, this was over concerns about the health and weight loss claims made, and last month the ASA ruled that the advert was not offensive or irresponsible.
Adverts on the London Underground were defaced with messages like: “Yes, everyone is beach body ready”, while spoof ads quickly sprung up using ‘real women’ models. However, with new figures predicting that almost three-quarters of British men and two-thirds of women will be obese or overweight by 2030, are we right to keep accepting excess weight as the norm? We’re talking health here, not appearance.
The UK has one of the worst rates of obesity in Europe, which directly costs the NHS £6bn a year. With more people becoming overweight, are we getting a warped view of normal? We’re adjusting to our increased size with bigger beds, bigger clothes, bigger car seats and portion sizes, but is adjusting to being bigger, and urging acceptance of it, glossing over the fact that we have a very serious problem? Obesity and inactivity could bring down the NHS. Children could die before their parents.
On the flipside, Protein World claims the ad drove US$1m of direct sales. But just because this approach has been shown to work, is it appropriate to use it?
What can the fitness industry learn from this debacle? How can we help ease the problem, having conversations about body shape without causing offence? We ask the experts....
Is this a healthy role model or is it fat shaming? Email us [email protected]
Rosi Prescott,
CEO,
Central YMCA
“There’s nothing wrong with showing a fit and healthy model, but this does perpetuate an idealised view which 95 per cent of the population are unable to attain.
Being bombarded with this imagery can lower self-esteem and confidence and lead to extreme behaviours to achieve weight loss. According to our research, 20 per cent of adults skip meals and 10 per cent are considering surgery.
Two-thirds of the population know it’s not achievable to look like the model in the advert, but 70 per cent of women and 40 per cent of men say they feel pressure from the media to look a certain way. The YMCA’s Body Confidence campaign, launched in 2011, was about reflecting what we really look like in terms of age, gender, ethnicities and disabilities. We want companies to understand that you can’t base a business model on insecurity.
We’re definitely not saying it’s good to be fat, but to make the right lifestyle choices you need mental, emotional and social fitness, so people need to be empowered, not shamed. We want to put across the message that you should strive to be the best you can be, and would like the fitness industry to stop using weight loss and appearance to appeal to people.”
Paul Sacher,
Consultant psychologist,
Momenta
“The population does have a skewed and unhelpful perception of what a healthy body looks like. However, the resetting of subjective body-size norms due to the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity is only part of the story.
The current visual shorthand within the fitness industry for what counts as ‘healthy’ – the thin and toned, or highly muscular, body – is a poor reflection of what actual health looks and feels like for the majority of the population. It simplifies the complex notion of health – defined by the WHO as ‘a complete state of physical, emotional and social well-being’ – to having a body that has an arbitrarily defined aesthetic.
Repeated exposure to aspirational but unattainable imagery is driving the epidemic of body dissatisfaction in the UK, which then leads to unhealthy practices such as fasting, laxative and steroid abuse, causing lasting physical and emotional harm.
Until recently, the power to decide what kind of bodies should be promoted as ‘healthy’ has been with those with a vested interest in keeping people dissatisfied. The rise of social media means that dissenting voices now have a powerful platform on which to promote alternative views and ideas about what ‘healthy’ looks like. Vive La Revolution!”
Tam Fry,
Spokesperson,
Child Obesity Forum
“In this case, I think it’s the product, rather than the advert, which should be called into question, because excess protein is dangerous and many people will buy this product without knowing how to use it.
This is indicative of many of the pressures currently put on people, because they are constantly at the mercy of heavy advertising for unhealthy food and drink. The government needs to get on top of food manufacturers and the advertising industry to change their practices.
People do have confused body images, which the clothing industry and fashion magazines need to take the blame for. However, to encourage everyone to accept their bodies regardless of size is not appropriate either. I do a lot of media appearances with ‘size acceptance’ people who claim to be fat and happy, and I say to them that if I hear they have developed an illness linked to obesity then I don’t want to hear a whisper!
One of the things the health and fitness industry could do to help people determine whether they are overweight and healthy, or overweight and unhealthy, is to offer free BMI checks. This could be used as a way to market the club and help educate people about how being overweight can impact on their short- and long-term health.”
Debbie Lawrence,
Freelance technical writer and consultant
,
“What is a normal, healthy body? There isn’t one specific type – even elite athletes vary in shape and size – so no wonder the public perception is skewed. We’re all operating from an individual frame of reference, and the historical pushing of ideal body shapes and looks from the fashion, media and fitness industries is at odds with the way most people look.
This image isn’t a realistic beach body in my world. It’s one example of a beach body, and not that familiar or representative of a majority. It’s potentially a continuation of our ‘shaming and blaming’ culture, which scaremongers people into getting active or going on a diet. In my view, this is unlikely to get anyone moving – if anything, it will trigger the feelings and thoughts which contribute to people being inactive in the first place.
I would like to see the media, as well as the health and fitness industry, use more diverse images of people: all sizes, races, genders, ages and abilities. Although this model looks very good in a yellow (a difficult colour to carry off!) bikini, we don’t know if she is flexible, strong, co-ordinated or can move for an extended period of time. We need more education to show people what healthy is and show them how they can improve their health and develop healthy behaviours.”
