Recently, Gillette Venus shared a photo of plus-size model Anna O’Brien, trying to celebrate diversity. However, their attempt has its share of critics who claim that the company is normalizing an unhealthy life. Similar to what other companies with super skinny models are doing, just on the other end of the spectrum.
Image credits: gillettevenus
Image credits: gillettevenus
Anna has an online blog, called Glitter + Lazers. “I run my online personality with heart, which means my opinions cannot be bought,” she writes on her website. “If I review something positively- it’s because I actually like it. I might be provided goods or in some case ever paid to try out and experiment with a product, but every collaboration comes with the caveat- I will write what I believe. I blame this on the bad case of ethics and morals I was born with.”
Image credits: GlitterAndLazers
She has over 318k Instagram followers and nearly 100k YouTube subscribers but that’s not it. “I’m also an accomplished global speaker- having presented in over 10 countries,” she says. “I’ve graced the stage at events such as SXSW, Adweek, Social Media Week, emetrics, M2C and more. I’m known for creating a candid and captivating presentation style and my ability to transform difficult concepts into executable steps.”
Image credits: GlitterAndLazers
Gillette Venus claims it features models with no retouching and no restrictions. “No one way to have beautiful skin or to show it off,” they write. “Venus stands with all women who right the rules.”
Image credits: GlitterAndLazers
Some people think this ad isn’t a good idea
This marketing move by Gillette reignited a heated discussion about body size and eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorder Association, 20 million women and 10 million men will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives in the United States. “Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening illnesses that affect all kinds of people, regardless of gender, ethnicity, size, age, or background. In fact, eating disorders have the second highest mortality rate of all mental health disorders, surpassed only by opioid addiction.”
If people are consuming fewer calories than they need, their bodies break down their own tissue to use for fuel. “Muscles are some of the first organs broken down, and the most important muscle in the body is the heart. Pulse and blood pressure begin to drop as the heart has less fuel to pump blood and fewer cells to pump with. The risk for heart failure rises as the heart rate and blood pressure levels sink lower and lower.”
On the other hand, obesity because, as well as causing obvious physical changes, leads to a number of serious and potentially life-threatening conditions, too. These include type 2 diabetes, coronary heart diseas, various types of cancer (such as breast cancer and bowel cancer), and stroke. It can also greatly affect ones quality of like and lead to psychological problems, for example, depression and low self esteem.
While others love it
Twitter user Internet Historian has even created a poll, asking people whether or not it was a good idea
Image credits: Internet Historian
This is NOT a healthy body. A young person might just about manage to function at this weight for a time, but it will soon catch up with them. Why do you think you never see a morbidly obese person of either sex who is over 60? Or one over 50 and independantly mobile with no serious health issues.
Sorry, but my 135 lbs body isnt a healthy body either. Yeah, I "look" like a healthy body, but looks dont define what a healthy body is. I used to work with a guy , damn near my hight, 5 foot 6, and obese for his body type. But damn, he could hike hills and out do me constantly in any outdoor activities we'd do. My mother is my size has high cholesterol and hypertension. Her sister, who's definitely obese has none of those issues. There are other reasons why someone might be over weight, and it doesnt always have to do with stuffing their faces with food.
Load More Replies...I dont care who they hire in ads for razors but they need to stop showing women shaving already shaved legs....
Apparently, any body hair belonging to a woman, (unless it is the head hair, eye brows or eye lashes) is extremely extremely offensive, so they can't show that, or teenagers the world over will have nightmares and the razor company will have to pay a massive fine, large enough to bankrupt them. It is a similar situation with the blue liquid used in sanitary product ads.
Load More Replies...I really hate these types of marketing. I am the worst when it comes to hearing peoples excuses for being unhealthy. You have someone on one end of the spectrum suffering from anorexia but then you have someone that is going to die from obesity because they are not eating well. Its like people get triggered when someone says they cant workout because of a health condition or a injury from the past. I agree that we shouldn't normalize it but that's what its looking like. This whole love your body movement is so critical of anything. Way to extreme. Its the most annoying thing when you hear in the news a clothing company is being bashed because they don't make clothes size XXXL Neanderthals would never have gotten that big! They would have died or eaten by something cause they wouldn't have been able to run away! I feel terrible saying it but I came from a family of Diabetes and my mom and dad a few brothers are struggling with weight. They are making the choice the eat poorly and not be
Yes but making the choice not to eat healthy doesn't mean you don't deserve to feel happy and beautiful if you so wish.
Load More Replies...Just from a marketing stand point this doesn't make me want to buy the razor. I'm a bit chunky but I aspire to be in better shape. I also aspire to smooth legs, but this ad doesn't make me think "smooth legs".
I guarantee you’ll buy that razor if you buy this kind of razor. Because nobody in their right mind buys a razor based on ads. They just pick it at the store, based on what looks like it will do what they want. At some point you try them all until you realize shick intuition razors or electrolysis are the only reasonable options.
Load More Replies...Just gross. Seriously gross. Ive been buying from Dollar Shave Club after the stupid "Toxic Masculinity" b******t. I'm happy I made that change after seeing that......I'll be pouring bleach in my eyeballs shortly.
If you find it gross that's your prerogative but what is it you gain from calling someone gross other than hurting the feelings of someone you don't know.
Load More Replies...There's an important difference between this ad and the fashion industry using underweight models. People like to point out that both are unhealthy and therefore you shouldn't "promote" being obese by using overweight models in ads like these. But it's not the same. It's true that both are unhealthy, but the fashion industry promotes being underweight by making this body type a prerequisite for entering that field of work. Their models need to be extremely thin to get work, therefore they encourage them to diet and starve themselves. This ad shows an obese woman – but you don't have to be obsese to get the job. It's about allowing different body types and creating awareness. If simply showing someone who leads an unhealthy lifestyle is promoting unhealthy behaviour, we should ban people who smoke from appearing in the media, people who do sport on a professional level because they damage their body over time, people who aren't toned because not enough exercise is unhealthy.
Yeah, for all those saying "people with fat bodies are all unhealthy and will die soon"--people with skinny bodies can be extremely unhealthy also. Size alone is not an indicator of health. I have relatives from Europe who would be considered fat here but they climb mountains and hike and could outrun any thin person I know. Assuming someone is healthy merely because they're thin is ridiculous. And I saw plenty of fat people in my mom's retirement home so an early death for all overweight people is not a guarantee. No overweight person who takes a picture of themselves is "promoting" anything. They're merely existing, but I guess some people just enjoy being judgmental of anyone they perceive as inferior to themselves in some way. We're lucky that we don't have cameras that can take photos of our personalities, so we can all point out the ways that we suck to each other.
Oh my... If I say she's fat ... I'm a real real bad person, right? The disguise of "body positivity" is just a lame excuse in the majority of cases. Being fat is neither nice nor healthy, it's a severely life threatening condition! No better than the anorexic Victoria's secret girls, just the other way. While the wight of someone is one of the rare things where being normal isn't just another word fpr being stupid and ignorant, it's the only thing where normality never takes place in any ads - either it's unhealthy fat, or unhealthy thin. Whoever understands what is positive about this... Also - any skinny model is blamed for giving a bad example or driving girls to an unhealthy lifestyle - it's just the same with fat people. "You're beautiful, eat another horse and die with 30, but complain whenever someone worries about you!" ... seriously? Nothing's positive here!
Can't answer to Suzi directly... I don't have a weight issue, at least not a serious one. This is NOT about hiding or something, it's about the entire attempt here - it's based on the idea that people in ads usually are role-models (unless it's an ad against something, usually these use anti-role-models) AND that so called body positivity is totally f****d up. Stating that "everyone is beautiful" is not true and not even questioning the massively oversized relevance people in general see in being beautiful to whatever standards. First, for some things being beautiful may be important, but wouldn't mean anything if anyone was. The only thing ALL humans REALLY have in common is being humans... Second, atating that massive overweight wouldn't affect a visual concept of beautifullity (... yeah, that...) is just a lie - it becomes gross at some point, and sometimes it even IS right to be seen as gross by the one him/herself, when it's a seriously threatening condition. Like it is here.
Load More Replies...I'm overweight and I can admit that out loud, even obese to the doctor. I'm thankfully no ways as big as this woman, but I am big enough to consciously know I'm unhealthy and know I should work to change that. I rarely take pictures of myself right now. I don't want to have this confident "look at me" attitude because the way I look right now is not healthy and is not a body someone should attempt to model after. The fact this woman is so overweight and thinks it's okay is equally as damaging as a super skinny model who promotes eating disorders. I understand what Gillette was trying to do here, but there are plenty of "normal bodied women" or plus sized models they could have chosen that don't look like they could have a heart attack any minute now.
same for me, I am obese but surely not proud of it. It's a problem, it's an addiction for me I cannot overcome and I just feel bad and ashamed
Load More Replies...This is NOT a healthy body. A young person might just about manage to function at this weight for a time, but it will soon catch up with them. Why do you think you never see a morbidly obese person of either sex who is over 60? Or one over 50 and independantly mobile with no serious health issues.
Sorry, but my 135 lbs body isnt a healthy body either. Yeah, I "look" like a healthy body, but looks dont define what a healthy body is. I used to work with a guy , damn near my hight, 5 foot 6, and obese for his body type. But damn, he could hike hills and out do me constantly in any outdoor activities we'd do. My mother is my size has high cholesterol and hypertension. Her sister, who's definitely obese has none of those issues. There are other reasons why someone might be over weight, and it doesnt always have to do with stuffing their faces with food.
Load More Replies...I dont care who they hire in ads for razors but they need to stop showing women shaving already shaved legs....
Apparently, any body hair belonging to a woman, (unless it is the head hair, eye brows or eye lashes) is extremely extremely offensive, so they can't show that, or teenagers the world over will have nightmares and the razor company will have to pay a massive fine, large enough to bankrupt them. It is a similar situation with the blue liquid used in sanitary product ads.
Load More Replies...I really hate these types of marketing. I am the worst when it comes to hearing peoples excuses for being unhealthy. You have someone on one end of the spectrum suffering from anorexia but then you have someone that is going to die from obesity because they are not eating well. Its like people get triggered when someone says they cant workout because of a health condition or a injury from the past. I agree that we shouldn't normalize it but that's what its looking like. This whole love your body movement is so critical of anything. Way to extreme. Its the most annoying thing when you hear in the news a clothing company is being bashed because they don't make clothes size XXXL Neanderthals would never have gotten that big! They would have died or eaten by something cause they wouldn't have been able to run away! I feel terrible saying it but I came from a family of Diabetes and my mom and dad a few brothers are struggling with weight. They are making the choice the eat poorly and not be
Yes but making the choice not to eat healthy doesn't mean you don't deserve to feel happy and beautiful if you so wish.
Load More Replies...Just from a marketing stand point this doesn't make me want to buy the razor. I'm a bit chunky but I aspire to be in better shape. I also aspire to smooth legs, but this ad doesn't make me think "smooth legs".
I guarantee you’ll buy that razor if you buy this kind of razor. Because nobody in their right mind buys a razor based on ads. They just pick it at the store, based on what looks like it will do what they want. At some point you try them all until you realize shick intuition razors or electrolysis are the only reasonable options.
Load More Replies...Just gross. Seriously gross. Ive been buying from Dollar Shave Club after the stupid "Toxic Masculinity" b******t. I'm happy I made that change after seeing that......I'll be pouring bleach in my eyeballs shortly.
If you find it gross that's your prerogative but what is it you gain from calling someone gross other than hurting the feelings of someone you don't know.
Load More Replies...There's an important difference between this ad and the fashion industry using underweight models. People like to point out that both are unhealthy and therefore you shouldn't "promote" being obese by using overweight models in ads like these. But it's not the same. It's true that both are unhealthy, but the fashion industry promotes being underweight by making this body type a prerequisite for entering that field of work. Their models need to be extremely thin to get work, therefore they encourage them to diet and starve themselves. This ad shows an obese woman – but you don't have to be obsese to get the job. It's about allowing different body types and creating awareness. If simply showing someone who leads an unhealthy lifestyle is promoting unhealthy behaviour, we should ban people who smoke from appearing in the media, people who do sport on a professional level because they damage their body over time, people who aren't toned because not enough exercise is unhealthy.
Yeah, for all those saying "people with fat bodies are all unhealthy and will die soon"--people with skinny bodies can be extremely unhealthy also. Size alone is not an indicator of health. I have relatives from Europe who would be considered fat here but they climb mountains and hike and could outrun any thin person I know. Assuming someone is healthy merely because they're thin is ridiculous. And I saw plenty of fat people in my mom's retirement home so an early death for all overweight people is not a guarantee. No overweight person who takes a picture of themselves is "promoting" anything. They're merely existing, but I guess some people just enjoy being judgmental of anyone they perceive as inferior to themselves in some way. We're lucky that we don't have cameras that can take photos of our personalities, so we can all point out the ways that we suck to each other.
Oh my... If I say she's fat ... I'm a real real bad person, right? The disguise of "body positivity" is just a lame excuse in the majority of cases. Being fat is neither nice nor healthy, it's a severely life threatening condition! No better than the anorexic Victoria's secret girls, just the other way. While the wight of someone is one of the rare things where being normal isn't just another word fpr being stupid and ignorant, it's the only thing where normality never takes place in any ads - either it's unhealthy fat, or unhealthy thin. Whoever understands what is positive about this... Also - any skinny model is blamed for giving a bad example or driving girls to an unhealthy lifestyle - it's just the same with fat people. "You're beautiful, eat another horse and die with 30, but complain whenever someone worries about you!" ... seriously? Nothing's positive here!
Can't answer to Suzi directly... I don't have a weight issue, at least not a serious one. This is NOT about hiding or something, it's about the entire attempt here - it's based on the idea that people in ads usually are role-models (unless it's an ad against something, usually these use anti-role-models) AND that so called body positivity is totally f****d up. Stating that "everyone is beautiful" is not true and not even questioning the massively oversized relevance people in general see in being beautiful to whatever standards. First, for some things being beautiful may be important, but wouldn't mean anything if anyone was. The only thing ALL humans REALLY have in common is being humans... Second, atating that massive overweight wouldn't affect a visual concept of beautifullity (... yeah, that...) is just a lie - it becomes gross at some point, and sometimes it even IS right to be seen as gross by the one him/herself, when it's a seriously threatening condition. Like it is here.
Load More Replies...I'm overweight and I can admit that out loud, even obese to the doctor. I'm thankfully no ways as big as this woman, but I am big enough to consciously know I'm unhealthy and know I should work to change that. I rarely take pictures of myself right now. I don't want to have this confident "look at me" attitude because the way I look right now is not healthy and is not a body someone should attempt to model after. The fact this woman is so overweight and thinks it's okay is equally as damaging as a super skinny model who promotes eating disorders. I understand what Gillette was trying to do here, but there are plenty of "normal bodied women" or plus sized models they could have chosen that don't look like they could have a heart attack any minute now.
same for me, I am obese but surely not proud of it. It's a problem, it's an addiction for me I cannot overcome and I just feel bad and ashamed
Load More Replies...






























105
308