Dutch Bus Ad Projects Your Weight
I had to post about this bus stop ad not only because I work in the advertising industry but also because I’m Dutch. Oh, those wacky Dutch.
The premise of this ad is a bus stop that, when you sit down, projects your weight onto an advertisement for a gym. Shakesville has a picture, and Liss points out that the ad is:
Not only fat-hating/shaming, but deeply hostile to the physically disabled, who have to exchange their privacy and dignity for their basic comfort just to wait for a bus.
On AdFreak, a commenter talks about fatism in the Netherlands (which for the record I have not experienced myself):
I’m an American expat currently living in the Netherlands… you wouldn’t believe how far people will go with shame ads. I’ve never gotten used to the stark honesty (read: rudeness) that is culturally acceptable (read: mandatory) here. It’s not unusual to see onlookers laugh openly at disabled persons, or anyone who has difficulty/is overweight. Staring openly, making audible comments – these are just part of life here. I would die of embarrassment from this ad; since I ride the bus daily, I’ll have to watch out.
It doesn’t seem anyone thinks this is a great idea. Cherryflava, a marketing blog, asks:
We’re all for innovative, interactive public advertising, but when does the interactive nature of the ad start infringing on your right to privacy?
This whole thing gets me wondering what I would do if that bus stop were in my ‘hood. Would I sit on it proudly and own my size? Would I make sure someone always sat down at the same time as me? Would I flip it off as I walked past? Would I just stay standing? What should I do? What would you do?
Link found via Shapely Prose.
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Advertising, Fatism, International, Personal, Question
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I’m not usually one to deface property, but I have a whole bunch of stickers and I’m not afraid to use them.
Well, that’s certainly good to know. I’m actually looking at gyms right now, and Fitness First was on the list. I’m now able to cross one off right from the start, which I will do, immediately after I send them a letter telling them why.
That’s just stupid. I think I’d own up to my weight though, I’m not embarressed. But not everyone has a good body image.
Oh well, I’ve graffitied before, I can do it again. :-p
I think that here is a place where we’re facing the same problem worldwide: how do you undo an attitude? I’ve encountered other folks from that neck of the world, and they’re super judgmental about the body and just about everything else. Which is weird; you’d expect differently from Europe.
I like to think that I’d put a piece of tape across the reading and write on it “Perfect.”
Even though there isn’t a Fitness First gym in my area (to the best of my fairly non-extensive knowledge) I’d be inclined to write to the corporate masters and let them know why I will never, ever, under any circumstances join their gym, recommend their gym, or allow anyone I know to join their gym without being aware of this offensive form of advertising.
If enough people complain loudly enough and follow through by taking their dollars elsewhere, well, the company will have no choice but to pull the ad that’s making everyone stay away from them.
It doesn’t fix the problem, but it lets one company know that they’ve gone way too far, and hopefully puts the fear of the angry consumer into the next company that thinks something like this is a good idea.
i would die if that happened – well, maybe not but that’s just wrong!
Cruelty? Total lack of human feeling? Yep, that’s Dutch.
That ad/scale wouldn’t stop me from sitting there, and if anyone commented about my weight, I would have to get snarky with them. Something along the lines of “And your opinion should matter to me for what reason?” or “And I suppose you are perfect in every way?” or “Who died and made you the Master of the Universe and Boss of All Bodies?”. Not to mention that if I’m taking mass transit, that means I’m carrying my purse, and that alone weighs about 15 lbs (what with books, tools, wallet, checkbook, photos, etc……..what can I say, I carry a mini-suitcase for a purse, never know when a screwdriver or pliers might come in handy).
I wonder if there’s a limit – like am I too fat to have it read my weight accurately? Will there be a HUGE RED “Error” or something? That would actually make me laugh a little – to myself anyway.
I’m pretty sure I would vandalize this with black spray paint. I like Rachel’s idea, though, if I was feeling like being the bigger person that day . . . get it? Bigger Person! HA!
Okay. I’ll stop.
I realize that I probably have some issues but I would have fun sitting down and getting up and sitting down on that scale. I think its a cool idea, but I also realize it was terribly misguided because many people do care about having their weight broadcasted to the world. It just doesn’t stop me from secretly wanting one of those in my house to just play around with..but then again I tend to be easily amused by scales (Ill stand on one foot and then with both to see how its different, or ill try with and without my winter coat to see how much my coat ways, or ill get on there with my puppy to see how much he ways..and so on).
Also, do you think the reading on there are even accurate? Because I know with my scale at home if you lean forward and press hard, or only stand on one foot you can change the weight. And with this scale you are sitting on it and your feet are on the ground so shouldn’t that make it way off in the reading?
One last thing, to Flora: I realize that clearly you have had bad experiences with dutch people but you shouldn’t make such sweeping and insulting comments about an entire nation of people. While living in Europe I had many dutch friends who were extremely nice and friendly people who expressed not an ounce of fat hat so clearly this is not the case for everyone.
Crystal, that was my thought. I would actually want to sit down just to see if it could read my weight…I’ve had various folks encourage me to hop on a scale regardless of limits before and been amused by the results.
If this was in my neighborhood, I’d definitely try it to check the result against my scale at home. Of course, I’d disinfect the dickens out of it first. In my ‘hood, though, this thing would get vandalized/broken so fast none of us would probably get to use it anyway.
This is a bad idea. Just plain intrusive and mean.
If I didn’t accidently run my butane lighter / torch across the display face on first sight, I’d probably use it as an excuse to monopolize the seat.
“Hey! It’s already maxed out, Friend! You brake it, you bought it! OR you could write the city to complain and have the whole, damn, thing yanked out. Enjoy your bus ride Citizen!”
(Of course elderly or disabled WILLING to sit would be more than welcome to take mine)
Lola, you’re right, I’ve known plenty of nice Dutch people too. Not everyone in the Netherlands fits the stereotype, not by a long shot.
On a highwa that I occasionally drive, there’s an automatic speed check that displays your current speed on an electronic sign. A month after it was installed, they had to limit it to a maximum of 107kph (the speed limit is 100) because of all the hoons driving through it as fast as possible all night.
I suspect a similar fate awaits this seat, only with people jumping on it. And people who really need that seat then won’t have a seat.
Shameless self promotion time, I totally blogged about that for my internship.
And I’m amazed at the non-douchyness of the comments I got.
^^
To add, I’m not amazed because I think Bust readers are douchey (quite to the contrary) but usually when you post anything about weight you get morons who come out, no matter how otherwise progressive or open-minded the forum.
I would stand up but I stand up at bus stops anyway. Nobody accept me and my doctor and a trainer at my previous gym knows my weight and that’s the way I want to keep it because people don’t “get” weight – they think if you are more than 200 pounds you are completely abnormal and they couldn’t even imagine that you are WAY more than that.
Anyway – I did live in the Netherlands for 7 years until I moved to Chicago about 5 month ago and I have to say that there is way more fat hatred in America than in the Netherlands. Most Dutch girls are a little bit overweight but they are ok with it and people don’t laugh and stare. Dutch girls however work out a whole lot and I would say are in general way healthier than skinny women from other countries because of their active live style.
I have never been to a country where people cared less about your weight.
BUT in general the Dutch are way more direct and straight forward then other people, kind of like children, they will just say what they see but not because they want to hurt you but because they just say what they see. I recall my Dutch colleague and friend telling me things like “You have a pimple on your forehead” or “you look really bad today” – but this is just an observation. And you know – when they said something nice I knew it was honest too. This is something I have come to greatly appreciate.
When you live in the Netherlands you don’t get bombarded with “the obesity epidemic”, most doctors will be fine with you being overweight as long as you work out and eat healthy, there are no MeMe Roths and even though I lived in Delft which is a student town full of frat boys, I was never afraid to go anywhere.
Living in the Netherlands did WONDERS for my self-esteem. Now that I am living in America this is starting to crumble.
That’s what spraypaint is for.
Yikes! I refused to let my husband know how much I weighed on the day I gave birth. I am perfectly fine revealing most information that women are reluctant to share, like my age. But I will NEVER say my weight. If I didn’t realize and sat down on that bench, I would be LIVID that my weight was revealed.
If I were in a grouchy mood and there were other people, I would definitely sit down, proclaim 220lbs and proud of every ounce and defy anyone to say anything. Of course where I live it would be vandalized in a second.
Good thing I have no desire to live in Holland. If someone made an openly rude remark about my weight (in English) I would just say what I say when that happens here. Why is it is is never the pretty people who are the most fatphobic? It is always the unattractive ones that don’t feel good about themselves that need to make remarks. I don’t get a second remark although I don’t win popularity contests either.
Oh man. Cultural differences. I lived in Chile for two years. My co-workers had no problems with saying things like, “Wow. That’s a huge zit on your face” and “Boy. You’ve put on some weight, haven’t you?” Not considered rude at all in their (indigenous) culture. Nicknames in Chile were things like “Baldy” and “Beer gut guy” (that’s the best I can get out of “Panchito”) and “Blacky” (for someone with darker skin than usual. That sort of thing does not translate well to American (oops — I have to say “United Statesian” — they were always quick to point out that they, too, were American) culture.
I would sit on the ground if I had to sit at all, in protest.