lifestyle

'Beach body ready' campaign backfires in spectacular fashion.

Excellent work, world.

In news that will shock no-one, an ad campaign for a company called Protein World in London has tried to target women’s insecurities by encouraging them to lose weight in order to look better in a bikini.

Image via @jessiemoncrieff Twitter

 

This advertising tactic is so very tiresome, so painfully overdone, that all we can say with a yawn is “sassy comment, sassy comment, please f***k off and leave us and our bodies alone”.

Read more: How to get bikini body ready: put body in bikini.

Thankfully, others have managed to make a MUCH better statement against this sexist advertisement, inventing a new hashtag #eachbodysready in order to demonstrate what an actual beach-ready body looks like.

In that, it’s a body. And it’s ready to go to the beach.

Hundreds have jumped on this hashtag, some posing next to the ad in bikinis:

Others taking a more direct approach and defacing it:

Note: we do not endorse defacing public property. Unless it’s reeeally sexist.

And some still making a short film about it:

43,000 have also signed a change.org petition to get it removed.

The controversy around the ad even prompted featured model Renee Sommerfield to speak out:

“Saying the ad is body shaming by body shaming the image is very contradictory. Two wrongs don’t make a right,” Sommerfield told the Huffington Post.

“I agree that ALL bodies are ‘beach body ready’. Skinny, curvy, muscular, petite, tall, short, young and old. Confidence is beautiful no matter what size you are…. Your reflection doesn’t define your worth,” the model added.

Related: This sexist DirecTV ad is just so appalling.

It seems that all responses have had one common thread, though: the overarching message that making women feel bad about their bodies is no longer OK, no longer accepted, and will no longer be tolerated by anyone.

Advertisers: take note.

Everyone else – enjoy perusing some more responses to this campaign by the outraged.