“Are you beach body ready?”
That’s the question the ad above has been asking commuters on the London Underground for the past month. The campaign, which features a skinny, bikini-clad woman in all of its posters, was put together by dietary supplement company Protein World to promote its “weight loss collection.”
Feminists quickly labeled Protein World’s posters “body shaming adverts,” and the resulting counter-campaign has a clever name/hashtag (#EachBodysReady), a Facebook page with over 1,000 supporters, and a petition against the ad with over 42,000 signatures.
While Protein World has openly mocked the counter-campaign (see below), Dove UK snapped back with a parody featuring “plus-sized models”:
Nice topical ad RT: @DoveUK Yes, @ProteinWorld. We are #BeachBodyReady. #CampaignForRealBeauty pic.twitter.com/PcXczqnP9v
— Matt Weatherall (@matt_weatherall) April 16, 2015
Other responses have been less reserved, resorting to hijacking or sabotage or vandalism, depending on your preferred terminology:
https://twitter.com/cait_gc/status/590488832526671872
https://twitter.com/tGheHmaOchSinTe/status/590411407625211904
@cait_gc @AnyBodyOrg @UK_Feminista @SukiKF lolz pic.twitter.com/Oo2buzld4q
— ETRA (@everyoneisetra) April 23, 2015
More sabotage, via @She_LarissaS http://t.co/NuzeJ9iSwX pic.twitter.com/4XpGGk5Igr
— The Vagenda Team (@VagendaMagazine) April 24, 2015
We love London. Fuck patriarchy. pic.twitter.com/bDeET7pzdO
— The Vagenda Team (@VagendaMagazine) April 22, 2015
You're god damn right @Catstello and I are beach body ready. No help needed, we're #alreadyperfect. #bodypositive pic.twitter.com/UysgHFkvpa
— Fiona Longmuir // Looking for Emily is out now! (@fionalongmuir) April 22, 2015
High Five! 'Sexist' Beach Body Adverts Vandalised On Tube: http://t.co/UCeggV4Hr6 via @HuffPoLifestyle pic.twitter.com/7czWBaYo0G
— ®️I©️🇰y ☮︎ 🇵🇸 (@VividRicky) April 23, 2015
Some responses have been even more direct:
As for Protein World, they aren’t exactly treating this like a PR crisis. To say they’ve been less than sympathetic to the protests would be a protein-jammed understatement. According to Now. Here. This., the company has countered by saying the model pictured in their campaign has a healthy BMI, and it’s “a shame that in 2015 there are still a minority who aren’t focusing on celebrating those who aspire to be healthier, fitter and stronger.”
They’ve also bragged that the campaign has tripled their sales. And then there’s this:
@JulietteBurton and it's ok to be fat and out of shape instead of healthy? We are a nation of sympathisers for fatties #doesnthelpanyone
— Protein World (@ProteinWorld) April 23, 2015
Soures: Identities.Mic, Now.Here.This., #EachBodysReady