Gillette ad features an unapologetic fat woman in a swimsuit; heads explode (See Staff Post)

[ShadowAUS]

All the posts in here about not normalising obesity. I don't know if you've looked around but being fat is pretty normal nowadays. Seems kind of odd that fat people, especially fat women don't feature much in our media.

Manufacturers and marketers are right to target what amounts to almost 50% of the population. They are an undeserved demo.

That said this all feels slightly manufactured this time around.

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Aye - it is. But it shouldn't be. It shouldn't be mocked or attacked or looked down upon, obese people should be able to live happy and fulfilling lives and they should also be allowed to be obese if they so choose. But it shouldn't be normal. It should be treated the same way anorexia should be (even if that is still severely lacking as well, especially in countries like the US) - with understanding, education(the most important and the most lacking at the moment, especially in schools and for parents) and accessible medical options for if the person so chooses to go down the route of weight-loss. In this case a registered dietician, a counsellor, physical therapist, coordinating GP and possible surgery. But most importantly it needs to be addressed at the root causes; the food industry and corporate interests.

Is this particularly feasible in the current climate? Not really but it is nonetheless needed. It's because of how effective the food industry has been in normalising terrible diets that obesity is normalised in the vast majority of the world. Because of this many people don't realise just how bad it is and that it's only going to get worse and governments are failing to act appropriately. (Not the best source as I don't like SMH but it will do.)

A couple of words about the OP in particular though to address some of the things I've seen;
1. No, I'm not writing an essay here because I secretly think the model is ugly and she's scarring my retinas or something, I don't find her unattractive at all. If this was a man instead of a woman I would have made the same damn post because it's the same issue and not ultimately about the person pictured.
2. The post isn't actually bad in and of itself, except for the hypocritical part of this being posted by a beauty/personal care company that profits heavily off of societal beauty standards and social norms. It's actually worded well and I like the photo. I don't find the post offensive (though I do find it cynical as all get out coming from any company, but this one, in particular, is even more skeevy) and I'm not angry about it.
3. That I don't care about the underlying factors like sugary goods, alcohol, fast food etc and their associated promotion. I do care, a lot actually and I think they are a massive problem and are the biggest reason for the normalisation of very unhealthy diets and habits and should be much more regulated if people actually cared about the obesity crisis.

Let me know if I missed anything, also feel free to PM me if anyone wants to talk about this kind of shit, I'm really passionate about it.

 

[Xx 720]

She looks happy, good for her.

 

[Thorn]

I can't help but feel this is not some "oh lets promote body positivity!" but simply this was made literally to cause an outrage by some cynical suits in Marketing.

 

[Avitus]

People are conflating a simple picture of a happy person with the movement out there that tries to normalize obesity and downplay the health risks, similar to anti-vaxxers. People don't deserve nasty comments for being overweight, but just the same, a corporation probably shouldn't be doing anything that could be perceived as normalizing obesity. It's especially weird coming from a corporation that sells products largely based on insecurity/conformity. It feels very cynical and insincere.

 

[TSM]

yea pretty interesting point tbh

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It simultaneously says "fuck the beauty standards society holds women to" while also reminding women they don't want to be seen in public with unshaved legs and pits.

 

[Trickster]

I can't help but feel this is not some "oh lets promote body positivity!" but simply this was made literally to cause an outrage by some cynical suits in Marketing.

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Of course, this is gonna get them far, far more attention than any normal promotion ever would, and they know that.

 

[S I C K O]

marketing knew what they were doing

 

[Gallows Bat]

I don't think it's right to promote this body image as "ok". Smoking and alcohol is banned from advertisements here and obesity kills even more people. People can do what they like in their private lives but I'm not comfortable with unhealthy lifestyles being used for advertisement.

 

[Plainswalker]

I saw a comment or two earlier in response to people saying "you don't know their health", with the response being "you think they're healthy?" and I just want to point out that that's really not at all what they're saying. The point is, her health is not your business. You don't need to comment on her health, or say that she's unhealthy and going to get X disease, or whatever else, because the health of anyone, fat or not, is not up for public debate or discussion. That is up solely to the person, their doctor, and their loved ones. Nobody else has any business commenting on somebody else's health, especially when all you know of the person is a picture on the internet. She knows all that. People like you have likely been telling her that all of her life. Your comments are not novel. It's none of your business.

 

[Pekola]

Thread has been reopened for further discussion. Going forward, it is important to remain on topic and not body shame.

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This is the energy we need going forward with body shaming.

Thank you for taking a stand on this. It drives the toxic bs away.

 

[nemoral]

I disagree with the first half of your post.

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Disagree all you want, you're factually wrong. There is no healthy way to eat 1700 calories in one sitting, yet we advertise that. We advertise drinking, and regardless of how much people enjoy it, it is not good for you. Again, we routinely advertise unhealthy lifestyles, ranging from alcohol consumption, drinking high calorie nutrient free sodas and calorie bomb foods, to burning fossil fuels as if they would never run out and weren't ruining the planet. The vast majority of the lifestyles we advertise aren't actually healthy in any sort of way, and you can tap dance around by saying you don't like those ads either, but what you like was not in question. What was in question is whether we advertise unhealthy lifestyles, which we do.

As for the second part, again, they aren't promoting her body size. They are saying that even people as big as her can be happy and visible and use their products. I have zero interest in correcting you on that again, so if you can't manage to understand that, just address your next comment to someone else.

 

[pikachief]

"It's about promoting something unhealthy" yet, we never have any threads hating on things like this...

Or

Maybe people are just desensitized since this stuff is so common, but it doesn't change the fact that singling out a large woman who's not advertising anything that actually made her unhealthy is hypocritical... More so since following the comments on the ad, it's pretty clear most people aren't trying to hide the real reason.

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The big difference is these ads are actually selling something unhealthy while the gillette's ad isn't selling something unhealthy.

But its a lot easier to judge a person than a product I guess.

 

[@dedmunk]

I don't want to see a half naked fat man or woman on my feed, it's gross.

 

[Trisc]

I hate that body positivity automatically earns the attention of irate assholes on the internet.

Even moreso, I hate #WokeBrands weaponizing this irrational anger to better market their products.

I don't want to see a half naked fat man or woman on my feed, it's gross.

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Boner kulture.

 

[ShadowAUS]

I don't want to see a half naked fat man or woman on my feed, it's gross.

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It's posts like this that makes my faith in humanity slowly die each day.
Edit: Did I get whooshed or something?

 

[@dedmunk]

Boner kulture.

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schwing

It's posts like this that makes my faith in humanity slowly die each day.

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Why exactly?

 

[weekev]

Keep in mind that 35% of America is obese so this ad can appear woke but also aims itself at that huge percentage of people who are used to being shamed due to their size. This is a pretty good marketing strategy and is well thought out. They haven't glorified obesity, they have sent the message that those people should still feel good about themselves and a good way to do that is use their product.

 

[nemoral]

It's posts like this that makes my faith in humanity slowly die each day.
Edit: Did I get whooshed or something?

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Just report him and move on, The mods will be along to deal with it.

 

[Masquerader]

Obesity literally makes you more vulnerable to avoidable diseases. In the same vein that ultra skinny models should not be encouraged, neither should this. It's an insanely unhealthy weight and will likely result in early death and being immobile, whichever comes first.

marketing knew what they were doing

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Oh, no doubt about that. It gets people talking for sure.

 

[Thuddert]

will me being fat and walking around in public make kids think it's ok to be fat

should i just stay inside all day you fucks

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You're a beautiful doggo.

Show them.

 

[ry-dog]

Having an obese person stuffing their face with food for an advert about food, might be considered glorifying obesity. Having an obese model for a shaving ad isn't. Fat people exist. Get over it.

This is faux outrage at its finest. If people cared about glorifying obesity they would start with the McDonald's adverts.

 

[Funkbrotherdee]

People are giant cunts to fat people.
I especially dislike the knobs who feign concern for their health when they actually have a superiority complex. Go play in traffic, fucking un-empathetic human garbage.

 

[Lonewolf]

Their selling razors, not a food product or health product that affects weight.

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That's my thought as well, if anything, they're saying being overweight isn't an excuse for not taking care of your appearance.

 

[Vern]

I don't care one way or the other if they use obese people in ads, my only issue is where are they using this ad? Is it only for Twitter? I doubt I'll be seeing this on a billboard or tv... which basically makes it amount to a publicity stunt trying to get retweets from outrage culture types. If Gillette or SI or Victoria's Secret make ads like this and put them in actual places besides social media then I can see it like they are actually putting their money where their mouth is and promoting all shapes and sizes, until then though these are just stunts to get free publicity on social media.

And what kind of weirdo follows a razor on social media?

 

[Cyberclops]

Showing skinny people in advertising for all of history didn't result in a country full of healthy people so I don't see why this would have the opposite effect.

 

[Persephone]

a fat woman: *is happy and feels good about herself which is no mean feat considering we live in a society that loves to tear down fat people, especially women, at every opportunity it gets*

men on the internet, looking into the distance: i finally understand what it feels like to be triggered

 

[diakyu]

I feel like a lot of overweight people know that it isn't the most healthy thing in the world, but ultimately it's their decision to get healthier or not. If they're happy the way they are, fuck it. Not sure why an add for a shaving device went this way though.

 

[ShadowAUS]

Showing skinny people in advertising for all of history didn't result in a country full of healthy people so I don't see why this would have the opposite effect.

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A couple of things (not targeting you or anything, I've seen this sentiment before.). A. There will never be a society that has all healthy people as long as humans have free will. The point isn't to eliminate unhealthy BMI's, because you can't. It's to bring it down to the smallest amount we can, at the moment it's not even close to going down across the board, it's rising. and B. What lead to the obesity epidemic is an incredibly complex topic but on normalisation specifically - it wasn't the normalisation of obese people that did it but the promotion and then normalisation of unhealthy foods, diets and habits through advertising. That normalisation has directly lead to the normalisation of obesity which is a self-fulfilling prophecy. The more normal it is, the more prevalent it will become which will make it even more normal - so on and so forth.

 

[Fliesen]

Of course everyone should at least strive to be healthy - but this isn't Gilette glorifying obesity as a beauty ideal, but rather celebrating the fact that even people who are overweight can and deserve to be happy.
Advertising tends to only portrait happy / healthy / beautiful people which creates the (false) image that happiness and health (in this context, body size) are tightly interconnected (or rather, more tightly connected than they are / have to be), that to be happy, you have to be of 'normal' body size.
They're not encouraging obesity. If anything - they're encouraging ... expression of joy? And i don't think that's such a bad thing to do

Also:
An obese person likely knows they're unhealthy - no need to put them down by 'letting them know'.
Many obese people would love to be more healthy. - no need to put them down by shaming / pressuring them.
What you think you're doing is "encouraging them to become healthier" - what you're actually doing is adding depression and sadness to their obesity. Good job.

 

[nemoral]

Venus is committed to representing beautiful women of all shapes, sizes, and skin types, because ALL types of beautiful skin deserve to be shown. We love Anna because she lives out loud and loves her skin no matter how the "rules" say she should display it.

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At no point does this endorse any sort of lifestyle beyond treating people with dignity regardless of their body size. If you have a problem with that, fuck you.

 

[TSM]

Keep in mind that 35% of America is obese so this ad can appear woke but also aims itself at that huge percentage of people who are used to being shamed due to their size. This is a pretty good marketing strategy and is well thought out. They haven't glorified obesity, they have sent the message that those people should still feel good about themselves and a good way to do that is use their product.

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"Women, you are beautiful no matter your size, just so long as you use our product to shave your legs and arm pits." There is a good point to be made here, but a purveyer of women's grooming products probably isn't the one to make it. They are part of the establishment holding women to unrealistic beauty standards and profit directly from women's insecurities. The fact that it's a woman on a beach isn't a coincidence. It's a reminder of what is expected of women in public.

 

[Fat4all]

You're a beautiful doggo.

Show them.

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[Killer]

Yeah...I'm not really into turning obesity into an aceptable thing, sorry Gillete.

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All what need to be said.

 

[Akira86]

thats just more fluff to pet on. you can make a lot of people happy, pupper.
the most important thing is that you are happy.

 

[Inugami]

Remember when Carl's Jr/Hardee's used to use women to promote their unhealthy lifestyle choices and remember how few people cared/said anything then? (and they are hardly alone, nearly every fast food chain has used women to advertise themselves...)

But again... This advertisement about a razor using an obese woman is sure pushing and promoting an unhealthy lifestyle on people.

 

[Pekola]

a fat woman: *is happy and feels good about herself which is no mean feat considering we live in a society that loves to tear down fat people, especially women, at every opportunity it gets*

men on the internet, looking into the distance: i finally understand what it feels like to be triggered

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They are absolutely warped and will try to take over any space or conversation, as is customary for them.

Go rewatch Fight Club or something you goddamn brogresive ghouls, and let the rest of us live.

 

[Dust]

That's way past the definition of fat, that's morbidly/dangerously obese.

 

[Cyberclops]

A couple of things (not targeting you or anything, I've seen this sentiment before.). A. There will never be a society that has all healthy people as long as humans have free will. The point isn't to eliminate unhealthy BMI's, because you can't. It's to bring it down to the smallest amount we can, at the moment it's not even close to going down across the board, it's rising. and B. What lead to the obesity epidemic is an incredibly complex topic but on normalisation specifically - it wasn't the normalisation of obese people that did it but the promotion and then normalisation of unhealthy foods, diets and habits through advertising. That normalisation has directly lead to the normalisation of obesity which is a self-fulfilling prophecy. the more normal it is, the more prevalent it will become which will make it even more normal - so on and so forth.

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I agree, I just think people are assuming the effect that this kind of advertising would have without any real facts. There are so many ways to combat unhealthy lifestyles, similar to how governments have combated cigarettes and the like, but the internet likes to fixate on this, when it could do so much for making obese people not feel like they're a subhuman species. No amount of this kind of advertising would have made me feel like I was healthy when I was a kid. Losing weight was my decision and mine alone.

 

[TheHunter]

You don't have to accept obesity. But one doesn't have to be cruel to obese people either.

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And you don't have to normalize morbid obesity to not be mean.

 

[Munti]

This ad is great! It isn't about making obesity an acceptable thing.
It's about dignity. Even obesed people have the right to laugh, enjoy, feel lucky, live and exist, feel being respected, not to hide and present themselves, jumping around and so on. You know, like every living being should.

 

[Inugami]

And you don't have to normalize morbid obesity to not be mean.

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Because one single advert from one company is somehow normalizing it compared to the thousands of ads produced daily that use women on the opposite end in an industry that prides itself in starving young women and putting peer pressure on them for unobtainable beauty standards... Come on now, no reason to be disingenuous... you don't care about the OP's health or societies in general any more than you do the health of all of the women in the other advertisements.

 

[TheHunter]

Because one single advert from one company is somehow normalizing it compared to the thousands of ads produced daily that use women on the opposite end in an industry that prides itself in starving young women and putting peer pressure on them for unobtainable beauty standards... Come on now, no reason to be disingenuous... you don't care about the OP's health or societies in general any more than you do the health of all of the women in the other advertisements.

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I am not a fan of the opposite end of the spectrum either.

Bulimia and anorexia are not something to be normalized or romantized. I was in the generation that those two were issues for young girls after all.

 

[Deleted member 13496]

I can't believe people are being banned for not getting behind this shit.

I teach sports for a living. Even if they're not necessarily "glorifying" this shit, showing that's it's a positive way of living and treating your body is harmful to society.

This is not positive, it's not friendly, it's not cool to teach kids that this is okay. Call it fat shaming or whatever nonsense term you want to justify it, encouraging or promoting this lifestyle is 100% not a good thing in a society where obesity and unhealthy living is now accepted as the norm.

 

[RDreamer]

So torn on this sort of promotion. On one hand yes, people should be allowed to be happy and enjoy life even if they're overweight. On the other hand, I can't really support ads or campaigns that promote extremely unhealthy lifestyles.

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This is for a razor company. They're promoting that overweight people can shave too. I fail to see how a razor company portraying what is likely a massive portion of their customer base is promoting an unhealthy lifestyle. If this was like Olive Garden or Frito Lays showing a large person chowing down then that would be promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.

 

[PennyStonks]

That's way past the definition of fat, that's morbidly/dangerously obese.

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I believe she would be considered the highest level of obese we have. I'm a 511 obese male and I likely weigh less than both her legs.

 

[TheHunter]

I can't believe people are being banned for not getting behind this shit.

I teach sports for a living. Even if they're not necessarily "glorifying" this shit, showing that's it's a positive way of living and treating your body is harmful to society.

This is not positive, it's not friendly, it's not cool to teach kids that this is okay. Call it fat shaming or whatever nonsense term you want to justify it, encouraging or promoting this lifestyle is 100% not a good thing in a society where obesity and unhealthy living is now accepted as the norm.

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The 90's was full of bulimia and anorexia normalization.

It wasn't ok then and the opposite isn't ok now.

 

[TheChuggernaut]

It's an ad for a fucking razor. It isn't glorifying shit and none of you dudes actually know what this girl has been through. She could just of lost 30 pounds for all you know. An obese person doesn't need to drop from obese to a normal body weight so they can actually be happy.

 

[Inugami]

I can't believe people are being banned for not getting behind this shit.

I teach sports for a living. Even if they're not necessarily "glorifying" this shit, showing that's it's a positive way of living and treating your body is harmful to society.

This is not positive, it's not friendly, it's not cool to teach kids that this is okay. Call it fat shaming or whatever nonsense term you want to justify it, encouraging or promoting this lifestyle is 100% not a good thing in a society where obesity and unhealthy living is now accepted as the norm.

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I can't either... it's not hard to not be an awful person, but this thread has shown that some people can accomplish it time and time again. Unless you think the person on the first page calling another human being grotesque is an acceptable way to treat anyone.

 

[TheHunter]

It's an ad for a fucking razor. It isn't glorifying shit and none of you dudes actually know what this girl has been through. She could just of lost 30 pounds for all you know. An obese person doesn't need to drop from obese to a normal body weight so they can actually be happy.

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We have had an unhealthy public debate on this topic for far too long; to the point were we have people just like in the 90's tell young people to be proud of their bodies when they are unhealthy and need help.

 

[TheChuggernaut]

We have had an unhealthy public debate on this topic for far too long; to the point were we have people just like in the 90's tell young people to be proud of their bodies when they are unhealthy and need help.

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Cool. Do you have an actual solution that isn't "No fat people in ads."