Adverts that are perceived to pressure you to “conform to an unrealistic or unhealthy body shape” or create body confidence issues are to be banned across the Transport for London (TfL) network from July onwards, according to Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Featured Image VIA
You can currently see adverts like the one in the featured image above on the tube, overground, coach station, trams, bus shelters, buses and on-street advertising.
These same adverts were also running in the lead-up to last summer, and it’s safe to say people weren’t happy about them:
Also (via @everyoneisetra) pic.twitter.com/4KWnq61HcX
— The Vagenda Team (@VagendaMagazine) April 24, 2015
Nice one London. Keep up the good work on the @ProteinWorld posters. pic.twitter.com/TUmbQekJd6
— ColletteLyons (@collette_lyons) April 27, 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
I committed an act of civil disobedience last week and it felt glorious @VagendaMagazine @EverydaySexism pic.twitter.com/4jl8vbnulU
— Miranda Fay Thomas (they/she) (@DrMirandaFay) April 22, 2015
This is what I think of @ProteinWorld's advert…. #proteinworld #beachbodyready #eachbodysready pic.twitter.com/vUUwuEu7Yt
— Laura Stevens (@Laura_Stevens1) April 23, 2015
Khan’s decision to do away with the ads comes after 70,000+ people signed a petition calling for the removal of that specific ad from Protein World.
Khan says:
As the father of two teenage girls, I am extremely concerned about this kind of advertising which can demean people, particularly women, and make them ashamed of their bodies. It is high time it came to an end.
Nobody should feel pressurised, while they travel on the Tube or bus, into unrealistic expectations surrounding their bodies and I want to send a clear message to the advertising industry about this.
TfL’s commercial development director, Graeme Craig, is also on board with the idea:
Our customers cannot simply switch off or turn a page if an advertisement offends or upsets them and we have a duty to ensure the copy we carry reflects that unique environment.
I guess removing these ads is the right decision, but you also have to ask yourself – how thin-skinned (no pun intended) are we as a society that these ads bother us so much? I mean just because you feel ashamed when you see these adverts on the Tube, does that necessarily mean the advert is trying to shame you? They’re trying to sell a product after all. The whole point of advertising is to make you feel like you need the product. They’re not necessarily attacking you in order to do so, even if that’s how you perceive it.
To check out the NSFL revenge story of a girl who wanted to punish her fat-shaming ex-boyfriend, click HERE.
