While some are calling Fit4Less’s billboard offensive and fat-shaming, I think the real issue is the bad design in this day and age. So when Natalie Harvey, co-founder of Combat Bullying, spotted the alien-featured billboard on the side of a convenience store in Derbyshire, UK, she was shocked. The slogan read:

They’re coming… and when they arrive they’ll take the FAT ones first!

Just look at it:

The billboard even has the audacity to tell you to “save yourself” by going to their website, but I think a better idea would be to remove it completely. Natalie went on to say:

Just this week alone I’ve had three cases of bullying due to weight issues and I feel campaigns like this aid bullying.

I couldn’t believe it when I saw it, it’s 2016 – this sort of fat-shaming humour is offensive.

But the gym just sees it as a little harmless fun (which obviously has a man behind the idea), commenting:

We don’t take ourselves too seriously – I’m a 45 year-old man who is 17.5 stone and proud of it – but I’m healthy with it.

There is such a thing as being overweight and healthy – not everyone has to be skinny.

We also believe however that if we are going to reach more people as a sector then we need to stop taking ourselves so seriously and realise that if we want to attract normal people, then we need to be willing to poke fun at ourselves and our messaging is designed to do exactly that.

Spaticchia said that by taking a “light-hearted approach” they feel they can “connect” with more people.

We certainly didn’t mean to cause offence and we care about the relationships that we build with the communities that we serve.

Apparently, the convenience store didn’t know what the billboard was about and were shocked when it was eventually brought to their attention:

As soon as the poster on the side of our store in Tamworth Road, Sawley was brought to our attention we requested the agency responsible to remove it.

However, the gym reported that the billboard would not be taken down.

The battle continues!

[source: mashable]