Unpopular Opinion: Those 'Are You Beach Body Ready' Ads Are Not That Bad

Those crazy ‘feminists’ are at it again – this time daring to express indignation at a London Underground advert featuring a bikini clad model, demanding ‘Are you beach body ready?’

The controversial posters from Protein World are an attempt to shame commuters – many have rightly pointed out, female commuters in particular – into spending £62 on powder and capsules that will help us achieve this buff beach bod.

AKA the basic premise of all advertising ever since someone realised that if you make people feel like crap, they’ll spend more money.

At the time of writing, 43,000 enraged Tube and Twitter users had signed a petition that emphatically decries the company’s latest campaign for ‘directly targeting individuals, aiming to make them feel physically inferior to the unrealistic body image of the bronzed model, in order to sell their product’.

Some of the more inventive protestors have taken to improving the posters with cutting quips to shut down the ‘sexist’ message.

Two women took it one step further and posed next to one of the ads in their bikinis, claiming “No help needed, we’re #alreadyperfect”.

But how much worse is this offending poster than the thousands of images of impossibly thin, wonderfully airbrushed models that attack British women (and men) from every angle as soon as we wake up each morning?

From unashamedly bare breasts on the third page of the country’s highest circulating tabloid newspaper over breakfast in the morning to the myriad summer fashion specials that you know are about to take over daytime TV, featuring leggy models in bikinis from BHS that were never designed to be worn by supermodels.

When was the last time you saw a size 14 woman on your TV screen who wasn’t being shouted at by Jeremy Kyle or sat on a sofa laughing at people being shouted at on Jeremy Kyle?

While it’s fair to describe Protein World’s advertising strategy as aggressive, it’s no worse than how women are being sold clothes, perfume and even yogurt. Newsflash: no Muller Corner has ever brought a woman to climax, sorry Scherzy.

Here is a selection of models from Topshop, ASOS, Next, Seafolly and Victoria’s Secret all trying to sell us bikinis. Notice any similarities? How about the fact that despite all of these styles going up to at least a size 14 (size 20 in some cases and 36DD for Victoria’s Secret), not one of these models is a pound over a size 8?

You can’t turn on the TV, radio or open a magazine these days without seeing former classical pianist Myleene Klass beaming up at you, rarely playing the piano, often bemoaning the struggles that come with owing a multimillion pound property.

The 37-year-old enjoyed some winter sun back in December and treated her 85,000 Instagram followers to no less than 26 snaps of her (and her perfect beach body) in a variety of bikinis, in various states of undress.

Myleene, who is worth an estimated £11 million, failed to mention that each of the bikinis were from her range at Littlewoods. At least Protein World was being upfront about what they were trying to flog us while making us regret every burger that ever passed our lips.

It’s not just women who suffer under this barrage of perfect bodies selling us overpriced luxury goods. Have you ever heard a man say, “Do you know what I wish they made more of? Ad campaigns featuring David Gandy in his pants”? Or how about every single front cover of Men’s Health?

While this is in no way meant as a defence of the Protein World advert, which was undoubtedly ill-advised, what has this reporter confused is why now, why this advert?

Perhaps working in the industry I do where knowing Kim Kardashian’s hair colour is more important (and in fact more relevant) than who the Home Secretary is, I have become totally numb to the impossibly high standards advertising places on women and men every day. But if now is the time to fight back against these debilitating, unrealistic and ultimately damaging ads, it’s a much bigger issue than one Tube poster.    

Do you agree or should posters like this be banned? Let us know in the comments below.

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