As Melissa at Shakesville writes:
…Subway reminds women that the only reason they have to feel good about themselves is being thin, that their self-worth is predicated on their looks, that psychological health is evidently dependent on being pretty, that fat axiomatically equals ugly, and that no man would ever love a fat girl.
Comments 10
Edva — October 31, 2008
I wonder what drives a company to run such an ad. What woman will want to buy from them after that? Yak.
withoutscene — October 31, 2008
@Edva Women who buy into it, and there are many, many of them. A LOT of Subway's ads are like this, and no matter how many letters they get in protest, they continue to run them.
Melissa — October 31, 2008
As a woman that is going through my own real awakening of the body images have shaped my life - this ad really pisses me off. This is the crap that keeps women from feeding themselves, in many ways other than physically.
Fresh Peaches — October 31, 2008
I hate these ads. They are the reason I haven't gone to subway at all, not one time, since they have started this campaign.
Lazercat — October 31, 2008
"I wonder what drives a company to run such an ad. What woman will want to buy from them after that? Yak."
Believe me, nearly every food ad I've seen aimed at women has emphasized weight loss in some form or another. Look at all the yogourt ads or the ones for Special K cereal (the Special K ones are just as bad, if not worse than the Subway ones). Apparently women cannot enjoy food unless it helps them lose weight, and it can be daintily, discreetly pecked at, so as not to make us look like pigs.
Anything to take up less space with our disgusting female selves, I guess. *snark*
Lazercat — October 31, 2008
Here are some of the Special K ones, if anyone's interested. Very similar to this Subway one, in terms of fat-shaming tactics used to market a product.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1DndyevpdM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9Yr32mupsg
Apparently women are not supposed to feel hunger or even desire certain (*lowers voice*) forbidden foods like (*le GASP!*) chocolate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiU9DMAW1Dg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_hou7JxrTc&feature=related
The last one is an old ad, but OMG SQUICK.
Ok, no more thread derailing. Moving on...
Tim — October 31, 2008
An interesting way to try and get people to eat "healthier".
I'm surprised Jared wasn't mentioned.
It's no coincidence that fit means attractive in British.
Will — November 1, 2008
I wonder if they would get less complaints (and better sales) if they had said the burger combo comes with "heart disease, high blood pressure, decreased life expectancy, etc."
Kirsten — November 2, 2008
Tim - depends where you are in Britain. It originated in Northern England, and although it's now widely understood I never hear it in Scotland where I live.
I don't like the Special K adverts either, or the Activia ones which feature women talking about how yoghurt with friendly bacteria prevents "bloating". It's never men, because men presumably don't worry about a bit of gas.
There are other yoghurt companies - Yakult is one, Actimel is another - who don't concentrate on women, but they tend to be fuzzy about what their products actually do. The emphasis is on a general sense of wellbeing, rather than regular bowels!
Rachel — November 17, 2008
Hmm. I can either be fat, lonely, and devoid of self-esteem (because golly, how could someone be fat and have good self-esteem and fulfilling relationships?), or thin, happy, and dead: In addition to nutritionally unsound, body-shaming advertising, Subway has one of the highest (probably THE highest, actually) allergen cross-contamination levels in the fast food industry.
I did think it was interesting that the character was interested in preserving her self-esteem but seemed unconcerned about the boyfriend and the waistline. Her priorities seem to be in order, even if Subway's are horrifically skewed.