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In a victory for today’s sheltered generation of ultra-sensitive whiners, London’s new mayor Sadiq Khan has decreed that any and all advertisements depicting “unhealthy or unrealistic body images” will be banned. The crackdown on offensively healthy bodies will apply to Transport for London, the government body that controls the city’s roads, railways and river traffic.
According to a press release, the new regulation “will not allow ads which could reasonably be seen as likely to cause pressure to conform to an unrealistic or unhealthy body shape, or as likely to create body confidence issues, particularly among young people.”
The ordinance is seen as a response to the controversy generated by Protein World’s “Beach Body Ready” ad campaign last year, which featured fit women in bikinis as a way to sell weight loss products. Social justice warriors waged keyboard warfare against the ads, calling for them to be removed. Protein World, on the other hand, reported a massive increase in sales thanks to the campaign.
Khan cited his teenage daughters as one of the reasons behind his decision to enact such censorship. “As the father of two teenage girls, I am extremely concerned about this kind of advertising which can demean people, particularly women, and make them ashamed of their bodies. It is high time it came to an end,” he said.
“Nobody should feel pressurized, while they travel on the Tube or bus, into unrealistic expectations surrounding their bodies and I want to send a clear message to the advertising industry about this,” Khan continued.
Social media commenters have lambasted the ban. “On an unrelated note, UK has the second highest obesity rate among women in Europe,” one Reddit user quipped, while another noted, “Slightly ridiculous, one persons unrealistic body image is anothers hard work and dedication in the gym.”
Source: Business Insider
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