Not Eating Grapes Makes You Unhappy and Draw on Yourself
October 10, 2008 by Kelly Turner
Filed under Fitness
I consider myself a fairly intellegent individual, but…
Does anyone else understand this ad? Is this supposed to make me want to workout? Am I supposed to want to eat fruit?
It looks like a bad America’s Next Top Model photoshoot.
This is an ad for Equinox Fitness- can someone explain it to me?
grounded fitness, fitness, health, yoga, pilates, strength training, personal trainer, cardiovascular, cardio, exercise, wellness, weight loss, blog, blogging, fitness blog, weightloss blog, Equinox Fitness, advertising, body image, plastic surgery, America’s Next Top Model
Oh, you didn’t know? I ALWAYS look like that when I work out!
Huh?
Sorry. My answer is “no.” That is one sucky ad.
Strange, very strange!
umm, if you eat grapes you won’t want lipo?? so confused…
I saw this ad on another blog, and I didn’t understand it at first. But what people noticed is that the woman with the guy doesn’t have the drawing on her, and the marks are like the marks for plastic surgery. So basically, you join Equinox, get all fit so you don’t need plastic surgery (seriously, those women are THIN, they don’t NEED surgery), and you get the guy. Whereas if you’d don’t go to Equinox, you’re going to stand there looking stupid and not have the guy. I can’t stand the message, because all it does is reinforce the stereotypes we already have to deal with in this society, and the women with the marks are perfectly capable of getting guys without wasting away all tiny.
ashley- me too. thats actually me in the white bikini.
tfh- i dont even get the message they are trying to convey.
Nicole- i stared at it for literall 3 minutes trying to figure it out. Maybe thats the point? it certainly got my attention.
ttfn300- will grapefruit make me want breast implants? what about green grapes?
LG- I think its insulting to assume women want to get in shape to get a man. I want to be in shape so i can kick a man’s ass if i need to. and the women that are drawn on look skinnier to me than the woman eating grapes (even though they are ALL tiny). its confusing. whoever is in the maketting department should get fired. or a raise because we are talking about it. either one.
it’s a ridonculousa d – the woman has plastic surgery markings all over her body. I think it’s Equinox’s way of saying, “Work out with us and we’ll make you look gorgeous and perfect and statuesque.” I cringe whenever I see this ad. Or most ads, actuallly.
I’m not even sure of my reaction to this ad… laugh? cry? be offended? just baffled?
Backing away slowly from it seems the best course of action to take…
ya know…sometimes when I am at my gym ( I go to a local Gold’s) I choose to feel insulted by the pictures in the gym. THey take the outline of the traditional male body buildler (the original Gold’s Logo) and then put pictures of people inside of it, people playing tennis, taking a step class, swimming a race. and then use the slogan “it starts at Golds” or something like that. as I’m struggling through the end of my workout, I dont like feeling like my goal at the gym is to git into the “norm” being that male buff archetype.
It feels like Gold’s was giving me a hug compared to the ad you posted. Completely disgusting.
umm….wha? Oh, right, I ALWAYS work out in high heels and (most of a) bikini! Makes you wonder if he/she has ever been inside a real gym…
How awkward is the position that girl on the left is standing in? Although I guess if my boobs were hanging out like that at the gym – ha, that’s not even POSSIBLE – I would be pretty tense, too.
ha! I was looking through one of my magazine’s this week and saw this ad…I was just as confused and also thought it was a sucky ANTM photoshoot! Horrible advertising!
No it does not make me want to work out.
But, I would eat more grapes if fed to me by someone who looked this good. :)
This is the best thing I’ve read all day: “I want to be in shape so i can kick a man’s ass if i need to.”!! You rock, Kelly.
Personally, I think the models accidentally used the toxic markers on themselves and now they’re all high from the fumes;) Really it’s the only way to explain why someone would let themselves be photographed that way.
longtime lurker on your site… hi! :)
haha re: this post. I saw this ad in some magazine recently too. actually when I first saw it I thought it was just advertising some designer brand, like D&G or Prada or Gucci or whatever. but then I caught the little “Equinox gym” on the bottom and I was like, “what???”
I agree – this is one seriously messed up advertisement. what is the message???
after looking at it for awhile I can only guess something like this:
The three girls standing around the girl being fed grapes by the guy are girls that are supposed to be joining the gym to get in shape, and the marks on their bodies are their “problem areas” they want to change. Then once they work out at Equinox, they will get their “happily ever after” and become the girl with no problem areas being fed grapes by the hot guy.
But the thing that doesn’t make any sense about this is that all of the girls look basically the same to me – slim. and the one on the right of the eating-grapes girl looks tinier than the presented “after” model (the grapes one).
??????????
lol. yeah, someone seriously needs to be fired/promoted over this.
What’s wrong with you all? I totally get it:
If you lay down like a skank and spread your legs some dude will feed you grapes in a backyard with statues in it. And also that ugly white bikinis get you the guy over ugly gold bikinis every time.
Ok, is that all cleared up now?
Hmmmm, he’s a bit of a short arse, no?
I really did think that was an ANTM promo at first glance, too. It’s just an utterly ridiculous ad, and it will attract utterly ridiculous people. Meh.
I do think the brunette in the foreground is gorgeous, though.
WG- i looked that the website and it looks pretty high-end. Like socialite status. either it works for the rich, or they think the rich are all like Paris Hilton
Sagan- good idea. Ill creep awaaay….and then take off running
Allison K- i like 24 hour fitness because all of its ads are normal everyday people. People that are already ripped dont need to be sold on the idea of a gym, and those that need to workout arent intimidated by the ads. its the perfect combo. this ad seems backwards.
missicat- i wonder what their gyms look likie inside….
eatingbender- haha i bet shes thinking “dont move dont move, your boobie will pop out…”
LisaR- its looks like one right? one that Tyra would say “i just dont see it in your eyes- you have to smile with your eyes”
Maggie- AMEN
charlotte- very plausible. I bet those grapes are poison as well. white swimmie girl will be next.
best soy latte- WELCOME! I love de-lurkers. all you lurker DELURK NOW!
ModelBehavior- i KNEW a real model would understand this! we are all just not high fashion enough. please forgive us.
cara- she is VERY gorgeous. and i would kill for her hair.
I saw this ad the other day too. I didn’t have a freakin clue what it was about though! I had to look at the tiny print to figure it was for a gym and that got me even more confused.
lol THEN I read your headliner about the grapes and I totally didn’t see them at first. I guess I was distracted by the dumbness.
All in all, it’s dumb and we should send hate mail to Equinox.
I’m hoping the misspelling of intelligent – please note the i – was intentional and sarcastic. I’m sure it is because you are awesome Kelly.
Alex- AW MAN. BUSTED. Can i earn points for being honest? because that wasnt intentional….
I’m leaving it though. Im gunna ROCK the misspelling
You win for catching that.
Grapes give me gas. So it’s certainly not something I want to eat at the gym…
Um…REALLY? Wow. It’s crazy that even the workout industry is turning to soft porn ads, huh? But, yeah, they totally hit the nail on the head with how I look when I workout. Totally.
Hahahaha! My favorite: the people in the back, especially the girl who is only showing her back side. Obviously this makes sense! What doesn’t make sense about it? :)
the advert means this:
choose fitness/exercise instead of plastic surgery. The girl with the guy has been training and feels good and confident hence why she has the guy. The metaphor is that fitness is better than surgery. ‘Whats your after?’ is a ’signifier’ which signifies which girl will end up happier, in this case the girl with the grapes and guy. ‘its not fitness’ metonym for it’s life, meaning join Equinox! Its actually a clever advert, you have to think about it unlike most ads which require little to no thought at all.! This ad contrasts really well between surgery and purity, in a sense, natural beauty and unatural beauty.