I don’t have much to add to copyranter‘s take on this PSA, except to angrily purse my lips at the medical profession and send everybody over to First, Do No Harm. And maybe point out that I’d rather sit by myself and eat potato chips than play this those grabby, ill-proportioned high-waisted nerds, too, but I’m fat so of course I would say that.
From copyranter:
From the atrocious layout to the asinine headline to the awful illustration of children of yesteryear to the…what the FUCK does this visual even mean? Why is a basketball game being held on a see-saw? And teeter-tottering isn’t exactly a great fat-reducing activity. And the dire headline: …”like their lives depended on it.” Well, for the very small percentage of kids who played Russian roulette, I guess that’s true.
12 comments
Comments feed for this article
June 19, 2008 at 1:34 pm
ubuntucat
I wouldn’t mind it if they put out just as many PSAs about people being too skinny to be healthy as well.
June 19, 2008 at 1:44 pm
OTM
Eh, I think it would still suck, both from a design perspective and from a “FAT WILL KILL YOU END OF STORY” misinformation perspective.
June 19, 2008 at 1:53 pm
ladyjaye
Oh yeah, because being an active kid of the 80s who ran around all the time, rode the bike everywhere, played street hockey and softball, etc. turned me into a skinny child… NOT! And I didn’t eat any worse than my slim friends. In fact, one of my skinny friends always had junk food in her house. Oh, but I guess I was automatically the unhealthier of the two because I was on the fat side, right?
June 19, 2008 at 1:55 pm
fillyjonk
I guess the idea is that one modern kid weighs more than three oldye-tyme kids?
But really, much more than the graphics, what bothers me is the repetition of “kids” in the headline. They’re called pronouns, people. Look into it.
June 19, 2008 at 1:58 pm
fillyjonk
Also, holy shit, that post — that post that is focused on the poor graphic design and wording in this advertisement — has an anti-fat comment score of 1. People just want any excuse, huh?
(Not that the comment is particularly egregious, but come ON.)
June 19, 2008 at 2:02 pm
suzanne
you know what gets me?
the whole line about how fat kids are more likely to become fat adults…
NO SHIT!
probably because they are the same freakin’ person, not because their parents didn’t make them lose weight while they’re still children!
June 19, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Meowser
I’m surprised they didn’t go all the way and make it a fat GIRL pigging out on chips, for maximum shock value.
And I’m sorry, but there WERE fat kids 30 years ago. LOTS of them. And all the bullying they got didn’t make them slim down, either. But at least they didn’t catch most of their shit from adults who didn’t even know them. I cannot imagine the psychic pain of being a fat kid today.
June 19, 2008 at 3:14 pm
fillyjonk
And I’m sorry, but there WERE fat kids 30 years ago.
Yeah, because otherwise where would all the fat adults come from? Way to be self-consistent, bad ad!
Also, I love “may actually result in a generation of children with shorter life spans than their parents.” Yeah, nope, try again.
June 19, 2008 at 6:30 pm
tiffabee
I am speechless. What is wrong with these people?! Even if the ad was accurate in regards to weight and health (and its obviously NOT), don’t they see how this contributes to hatred and prejudice? I don’t care what size you are (I happen to be thin) any human being should see how wrong and offensive this is!!!!
June 19, 2008 at 9:01 pm
ladykuri
GAH!! I can’t even form a coherent statement about that ad. It’s just ludicrous!
As the mother of a fat but very active child all I can say is that they’re stupid. And that chasing said child and attempting to keep her from killing herself any of a thousand ways in a given day’s adventures, I’m too tired to tackle this with any substance.
June 21, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Renee
Am I the only one that noticed the stereotypical black kid with the basketball? Yes this advertisement is all about fat hate but they also threw in a little racism. Of course playing basketball is all that black kids do…stereotype after stereotype.
June 27, 2008 at 9:17 pm
spacedcowgirl
I think there should be an immediate moratorium on claiming that this generation of kids just might not live as long as their parents. They have been foaming at the mouth with that drivel for years now, and as far as I know Americans are continuing to live longer and longer. I’m not sure the people who ring alarm bells like this even care if what they’re saying is true as long as it terrifies people into starving their children.