‘They’ll take the FAT ones first!’: Fit4less gym chain blasted for putting up offensive giant billboard

A GYM has been slammed for billboard ad, claiming fat people will be abducted by aliens if they don’t lose weight.

‘They’ll take the FAT ones first’

THE UK gym chain Fit4less has been slammed for putting up a giant billboard ad saying fat people will be abducted by aliens.

The 6m-high poster was put up on the side of a co-operative shop overlooking a busy road, leading an anti-bullying campaigner to accuse the gym firm of “fat-shaming”.

The eye-catching ad features an alien, and shows a person being beamed up into a spaceship with text that reads: “They’re coming ... and when they arrive they’ll take the FAT ones first!”

It also says “Save yourself!” next to an arrow pointing to the company’s web address.

Fit4less has been criticised for encouraging bullying in the ad.

Parliamentary adviser Natalie Harvey, who founded Nottinghamshire charity Combat Bullying, said: “Just this week alone I’ve had three cases of bullying due to weight issues and I feel campaigns like this aid bullying.

Is this marketing offensive? Picture: Supplied.

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

“I first spotted it on Tuesday and I thought ‘I can’t just keep driving past’, we have a responsibility to say something.

“Children are so fragile, it just doesn’t sit well with me.

“If those children or the perpetrators saw this poster it would cause further harm for the children who are being bullied.

“The poster should be removed and replaced with something more tasteful to attract the gym goers.”

Fit4less has defended the poster and said they wanted to take a “lighthearted approach” to their advertising.

Jan Spaticchia, chief executive of the gym’s parent company Energie Group, has refused to take the billboard ad down after the co-op store asked him to.

He said: “The aliens campaign is actually very successful.

“We aim to get people talking and promote the notion of a healthy lifestyle.

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

“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.

“We have found that by taking a lighthearted approach we can connect with more people who would enjoy what we have to offer. It’s a little harmless fun.”

Exterior view of the Fit4Less gym. Picture: Supplied.

Lorry driver Gary Turner, 44, who lives nearby, added: “I’ve always been a big chap and I am quite comfortable with my size.

“But when I saw that giant poster it did make me feel a bit self-conscious.

“It is just embarrassing that a big company like that has to resort to the kind of childish bullying humour you would get in a playground.

“It is a classic example of fat-shaming, they have even put the word fat in big pink capital letters, it just isn’t on.”

Bosses at the co-operative food shop have said they have asked for the advert to be removed from the side of their store.

A spokesman said: “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.”

The Advertising Standards Authority has said anyone with concerns should complain directly to them.

An ASA spokesman said: “Without launching an investigation and going through our processes, the ASA can’t comment on whether this ad is ethical or breaks the rules.

“The ASA isn’t a censor, so it’s not for us to ban ads on the grounds of offence if we haven’t received any complaints.”

This story originally appeared in The Sun.