Notes

The fact that anyone is offended by this just shows that they’re the ones insecure about their own body and trying to find a way to justify being what they are by complaining about something [perceived] better. The advert is showing that the beach body should be more fit and healthy than the winter body, when people naturally lose the motivation to stay healthy. It’s promoting being healthy and fit! But it’s also not forcing anyone to get into shape. If people are happy being what they are then they’ll pass by that advert and won’t think twice about it.

In that sense, are you going to start complaining about shampoo adverts, that promote great, shiny volumised hair just because you’re insecure about having your hair flat and dull? Are you going to complain about a BMW advert because it’s trying to perceive the image of having a better car when you’re still driving around in an old banger? Hell, you might as well complain when a company advertises a healthy food salad because that’s not “your way of thinking” and they’re trying to “push an ideal food [body] image on people” and you’d much rather prefer to carry on eating your McDonalds.

An African dictator using aid money to fund war and murder is fundamentally sad and depressing. A poster telling Christians to throw stones at Muslims would be rude and cruel. This advert is neither.