Aussie Fat Pride ad sparks debate, controversy

15th May 2009

Aussie Fat Pride ad sparks debate, controversy

posted in Fat Acceptance, Fat Bias, Pop Culture, Race Issues |

A fat acceptance ad made for an Australian show on advertising has garnered lots of controversy and debate. The commercial below was produced by the Sydney advertising agency The Foundry for a challenge on a show called The Gruen Transfer, which bills itself as “a show about advertising, how it works, and how it works on us.” On last night’s segment, two agencies were asked to create a campaign to “end shape discrimination and make overweight Australians feel less humiliated by the constant public disapproval of anyone who isn’t a size 10 or under.” Here’s what they came up with:

ABC decided the ad was too offensive to air on television, but allowed producers to post it online, along with a panel discussion about the ad. The ad features people shot in stark black and white telling the following “jokes”:

“How do black women fight crime? They have abortions.”

“How do you stop a poofter [Aussie slang for homosexual] from drowning? You take your foot off his head.”

“What’s the difference between Santa Claus and a Jew? Santa Claus goes down the chimney.”

“Why did God create alcohol? So fat chicks could get a root [Aussie slang for fuck].”

“Discrimination comes in all shapes and sizes” then flashes on the screen.

During the panel discussion, ad creator Adam Hunt explained his motivation: “The point is to say if you discriminate against somebody on the basis of their shape then you are no different to someone who is racist, homophobic or anti-Semitic.” He conceived the idea after catching himself laughing at the same fat joke aired in the ad. “I literally choked on that laugh, beer went everywhere and I had an epiphany about shape discrimination starting with laughing at a fat chick joke.”

The seriousness of the ad represents a departure from other ads produced on the show, which are usually humorous. The Foundry’s competitor, JWT Melbourne, produced an ad that celebrated fat people as voracious consumers who could lead the economic recovery. Hunt dispelled the idea. “Any idea that made you laugh at people was actually going to celebrate shape discrimination, not end it,” he said.

Show panelist Todd Samson said that the ad failed to engage viewers because they were so shocked by the first racist joke, that they missed the point of the ad. Samson added, “I don’t think you need to offend one group to help another.” But the ad did hook some viewers. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that it has forced the show’s host, and comedian, Wil Anderson to reconsider his habit of telling “fat jokes”.

What do you think?

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This entry was posted on Friday, May 15th, 2009 at 11:58 am and is filed under Fat Acceptance, Fat Bias, Pop Culture, Race Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On May 15th, 2009, Alyssa (The 39 year-old) said:

I must say that I like it. It really drives home the point that fat jokes are as bad as other types of “jokes.” And I say this as a Jew and as a mother of 2 special needs kids.

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

2 On May 15th, 2009, Lindsay B. said:

I loved how a lot of the argument against the ad was, “But the fat joke isn’t as bad as the other jokes, you can’t compare them!” When the whole point of the ad is pointing out EXACTLY how the fat joke was as bad as the other jokes. Talk about cultural views affecting how one sees something like that. They didn’t believe that making fun of a fat person is the same as being racist, sexist, or homophobic. They don’t grasp the concept that discrimination is discrimination, regardless of the shape it takes.

It’s absolutely baffling that, when confronted with the idea that they’re being awful towards another human being, those panelists argued that “It’s not the same,” that it’s okay to make fun of fat people with the same sort of joke that other bigots use, though they don’t admit WHY they think that way.

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 2:05 pm

3 On May 15th, 2009, jessa said:

I’m glad you explained the panel discussion, because now I understand the ad. Without that, I might not have. I understood the black woman joke and the fat woman joke, but not the others. I know I’m not immune to stereotyping, but I’m not very good at it and I’m also bad at slang. Maybe I am uniquely stupid? Maybe the idea that people just wouldn’t understand the jokes isn’t a worthwhile consideration because I am too much in the minority?

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 2:18 pm

4 On May 15th, 2009, Karen said:

Whoo that’s potent stuff there. My gut reaction is that I wish I could forget forever the knowledge that anyone might find those first three jokes funny. Then I wonder why only the first three jokes fall into that category in my head, since I don’t particularly appreciate the fourth, either. The only acceptable answer I have to that is that the first three do involve violence (or at least the wishing-they-never-lived of people) whereas the fourth does not. But I do think it’s also partly that I’m too used to hearing fat jokes, inured to them enough that they don’t sting like they should.

Although, I say that, but…

I have a satellite radio receiver in my car and often listen to the “Blue Collar Comedy” channel. They don’t play entire performances, generally, just clips from them. Now, I’ve been a moderate fan of Jeff Foxworthy (I enjoy his stuff and might go see him perform sometime, but wouldn’t spend hundreds of dollars to do it) for a while but had never heard his bit about the fat aunt…or maybe it’s a cousin, I dunno. I don’t know how I missed it, but I did – until a couple months ago when I was driving home, in a good mood, laughing from the previous comedian, when he came on doing that bit, which consists entirely of a very long string of fat jokes. I don’t remember many specifics, probably because I’ve tried very hard not to. It was about how the fat aunt (or cousin or whatever) shops at Lane Bryant (he did name the store) because she’s too fat to wear clothes from real stores, and something about the donut shop being right next door in the mall so she wouldn’t have to walk far… .

I sat there in my car feeling waves of anger and humiliation wash over me – enough of what he was saying applied to me to make it all feel very much laughing at me, and what didn’t apply just made me mad. If it had come from another comedian, almost any other comedian, I don’t think it would have bothered me as much. But coming from someone I really liked and trusted was, well, like a bucket of cold water over my head and a lot of people laughing at me, led by someone I’d never suspect. Fortunately the rest of the drive home was short, and I made it inside to collapse in tears against my husband (who put me back together masterfully). It was weeks before I could hear Jeff Foxworthy’s voice again without feeling a twinge of that awful hurt.

The only reason I can think of that this particular fat joke spiel bothered me so much more than usual is that it came from someone I like and respect. It didn’t help that the stuff he was saying was at times factually accurate; some women DO have to shop at Lane Bryant because other stores don’t carry enough good stuff in their sizes – how is this funny and why are people laughing at the fat people about it?

I’m too close to it emotionally to extract any more meaning out of all this, except maybe that I need to guard my emotions better against people I don’t know personally.

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 2:33 pm

5 On May 15th, 2009, Misty said:

The ad is simply brilliant, because it targets, and works on, a very specific group.

Those who find the first three jokes funny will not be affected by it. But they weren’t about to have their minds changed anyway.

No, the ad works on a very specific group: self-identifying liberals (left-wingers, social-justice activists, call them what you will). It’s appalling to find just how many of these people, who claim to be sooooo tolerant, have no trouble expressing profoundly size-discriminatory sentiments and holding anti-plus prejudices.

Hypocrisy? You bet. But how do you show someone how hypocritical they are being?

This ad does just that.

Basically, once they see they ad, even if they are still size-prejudiced in their hearts, liberals won’t allow themselves to EXPRESS anti-plus views, because they will have become aware of their own hypocrisy.

Their need to think of themselves as “good” people, to consider themselves oh-so-valiant crusaders against discrimination, will not allow them to express sentiments that belie that self-identification.

And since such individuals dominate modern culture, the ad targets the CORRECT group, the group with the most influence on shaping society.

It’s absolutely brilliant.

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 3:58 pm

6 On May 15th, 2009, Jackie said:

Hmm, I don’t really know what to say. I think culturally we’ve learned to be shocked by the above jokes, and it’s interesting how we’ve been taught to see the last joke as not so bad. Now, I’m Jewish, so honestly I was offended by the Santa Claus joke. However, there are worse things that have been said about fat women then you need to be drunk to have sex with them.

Maybe it’s the idea that we’ve become so accustomed to fat jokes, that there is no inherit shock value when we hear one. I think what hits me the most look at the quotes, is the above 3 quotes deal with the idea that those people shouldn’t exsist. Where the last one is like, “Well we’d rather not have them here, but eh, what are you gonna do?” kind of ring to it. Maybe it’s the idea that we should stop fat hate now, before it gets to the point where people are cracking jokes saying it’d be better off if they didn’t exsist altogether. I think it would’ve been more poignant if they did use a joke suggesting just that. I’m thinking about the plus-size body bag website, that was created after the Lane Bryant shootings in IL. Then again, I don’t think they’d really have heard about that in Australia.

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 4:10 pm

7 On May 15th, 2009, Catgal said:

I’m sorry, but I honestly do not “get” the Santa Claus joke. Is it an Austrailian thing? Don’t explain if it’s too awful, which I am sure it is based on the other jokes. Does this make me naieve?

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 5:11 pm

8 On May 15th, 2009, Scarlett said:

@ Catgal

The ‘Santa Claus’ joke is an extremely offensive reference to the Holocaust (burned ashes of Jewish people ‘going up’ chimneys, unlike Santa Claus who comes down). Doesn’t make you naive, but does point out what I think is one of the major of the ad – the fact that the racist/homophobic/anti-Semitic jokes overwhelm the viewer to the extent that it’s difficult to focus on what the ad is actually supposed to be about.

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 6:35 pm

9 On May 15th, 2009, Scarlett said:

* major problems of the ad, sorry!

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 6:36 pm

10 On May 15th, 2009, Lindsay B. said:

Misty, it targets anyone and everyone who has said such hateful things. Not all liberals are hypocrites, just like not all conservatives are hypocrites. There’s enough on each side to use as a strawman for the rest of the group, but speaking as a liberal, I’m very sincere about my tolerance and fair treatment. All of my liberal friends are, too.

It’s not about teaching us to simply shut up (and never voice) prejudicial thoughts, but to get people thinking about the prejudices they have and why they should work them out of their lives. Shame might be part of that, because people should be ashamed for hurting someone else so thoroughly, but it’s not just about being afraid of losing face. It’s about learning compassion.

I’m a tad offended at the generalization of liberals. :\

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 8:35 pm

11 On May 15th, 2009, Sarah said:

I’m a tad offended at the generalization of liberals. :\

I would be too, but I’ve seen too much hateful behavior from the “left” when it comes to fat people. I don’t know if they see fat people as a characterization of conservative values they don’t like or what, but they fail to see that we all individuals who are worthy of respect. I’ve personally been blamed by liberals for everything from global warming to starving children in Africa – just because I am fat. Most likely, it is assumed we “choose” to be fat (but I thought liberals championed personal choice) so we deserve to be picked on relentlessly for making such a “bad” choice.

As a liberal myself, I can’t wrap my head around it. Thank goodness for the Fatosphere!

posted on May 15th, 2009 at 11:01 pm

12 On May 16th, 2009, Piffle said:

Scarlett, thanks for the explaination of the anti-Semetic joke; I was also completely baffled by it.

I’ve also heard far more offensive fat jokes, which would be more parallel to the death wishes of the previous three jokes.

I think a more effective ad would be one which split the screen on each of these jokes with a more strictly parallel joke about fat people. I see it with a horizontal split for some reason.

Excuse me, I think I need to go visit cuteoverload for a bit now.

posted on May 16th, 2009 at 1:15 am

13 On May 16th, 2009, Penny said:

I think it’s a good idea in principle, but the execution of it wasn’t quite bang on, since the first three “jokes” hint at the death (or abortion) of members of the groups involved, but the one aimed at fat people was a sort of vague sexist and sexual insult. A joke about a fat woman only being able to have sex with a drunk man just isn’t the same as a joke about a black woman preventing crime by having an abortion. Both are offensive, but I can’t see how anyone could argue that they’re equally offensive.

That said, I do like the general idea of the ad, the idea that “humour” based on discrimination isn’t right or even funny. I do know people who would be disgusted by the first three jokes, but who wouldn’t think twice about laughing at the fat joke. Actually, if I were making an ad along these lines, I’d put the fat joke first and then use racist and homophobic jokes that were at the same level of offense (i.e. not talking about the deaths or avoidance of birth of members of these other groups, but still obviously prejudiced against them). That might help to underscore the point that the fat joke is also wrong without having the other offensive jokes distracting from the point or implying that fat discrimination is worse than any other type.

(I hope that made sense.)

By the way, I wonder if the fact that a lot of commercials on that show are meant to be humorous has added to the controversy over this one, what with its reliance on discriminatory jokes.

posted on May 16th, 2009 at 1:41 pm

14 On May 16th, 2009, Jackie said:

Piffle, yeah, it seems Anti-Semites just think Jews burning alive is the funniest thing. Feh.

posted on May 16th, 2009 at 4:15 pm

15 On May 16th, 2009, Catgal said:

Um, yeah, wow. I had no clue on that Antisemitic “joke”. That is awful…

posted on May 16th, 2009 at 6:29 pm

16 On May 17th, 2009, Lindsay B. said:

Now that I’ve thought about it, perhaps a much more striking joke for fat folks would’ve been, “You never see fat people in concentration camps.” Except that wasn’t originated as a joke. Huh.

posted on May 17th, 2009 at 1:10 am

17 On May 17th, 2009, Jackie said:

I was thinking, a long the lines that the other “jokes” were about how those people shouldn’t exsist. They should have mentioned how people think fat people do not have a right to fly airplanes. Of course, then I think what would have gone better a long with that, would be other forms of exclusionary discirimination. Like if he said, “Whites only, no colored allowed. Fat people shouldn’t fly.”

posted on May 17th, 2009 at 4:11 pm

18 On May 18th, 2009, pennylane said:

I have to agree with Penny. It’s not a bad idea but it doesn’t quite work for a number of reasons including the fact that the jokes themselves invite the accusation that a joke about murder or genocide is not equivalent to a beer goggles joke. It also seems to imply that it is given that the first three jokes will be seen as socially unacceptable and I’m not sure they are. It smacks of the “last acceptable prejudice” argument.

posted on May 18th, 2009 at 9:18 am

19 On May 18th, 2009, Susan said:

One of the many problems with ads such is this one is that it preaches to the choir. Trust me, sadly, there will be a lot more people who will laugh at all of the jokes and then move on and maybe even repeat some of them than there will be people who get the point about discrimination.

Also, as a woman who has been overweight and the mother of a son whose father is Jewish, there is a difference between discrimination against overweight people and discrimination against Jews, people of color and homosexuals. Right off, I can’t think of a country that keeps two fat people from getting married or keeps a fat person from marrying a thin person.

posted on May 18th, 2009 at 10:08 am

20 On May 18th, 2009, Rachel said:

Also, as a woman who has been overweight and the mother of a son whose father is Jewish, there is a difference between discrimination against overweight people and discrimination against Jews, people of color and homosexuals.

I don’t wish to engage in the “Oppression Olympics,” because I think each form of discrimination owes to its own unique social, political and economic forces, but it isn’t as if the discrimination against fat people is not also political, to a degree. Fat people are prevented from adopting in several countries, including some regions in the United States; it’s legal in all states save two to deny fat people jobs, housing, and equal opportunities; fat people face economic sanctions by way of health care premiums, airfare and aforementioned job discrimination; and much, much more. Discrimination exists and will continue to flourish so long as any one group is oppressed in any form.

posted on May 18th, 2009 at 10:51 am

21 On May 18th, 2009, Funny gimmick or just bad taste? - Page 3 - Belly Dance Forums said:

[...] ie. with respect and as actual individuals and human beings (see… I’m off on that tangent now…) Aussie Fat Pride ad sparks debate, controversy The-F-Word.org __________________ 6arab [tarab] all the [...]

posted on May 18th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

22 On May 18th, 2009, Bronwyn said:

Honestly.. I think they needed a worse fat joke to make that work. It still would have been pulled for being offensive but I guess I felt like in the spectrum of fat jokes they could have picked one that was every bit as insulting and downright appalling as the rest.

posted on May 18th, 2009 at 9:50 pm

23 On May 19th, 2009, scattered marbles said:

You know I saw both commercials, the one that wasn’t aired and the one that won the competition, and honestly I think that the banned one hits the spot MUCH better than the winning one. At least it showed that those kinds of jokes and actions are hurtful and hateful to fat people. For crying out loud the winning commercial was in essence just one long fat joke. Clumping all the stereotypes, all the hatred, all the stupid crap that we have dumped on us everyday making us once again the butt of the joke and the ones to be humiliated and then puts a fat pride stamp on it. No I am sorry there is no way that would EVER get someone to look at a fat person in a better light, it just furthers the stereotypes and says that it is ok. I sat through that commercial and cried, it made me feel so humiliated and shamed that it made me HATE myself …. how could that be chosen as the winner. At least the other one tried to point out how hurtful, hateful, and wrong that kind of attitude is instead of laughing it up at our expense.

Did anyone else watching that show wanna smack the host at the end for the comment he made about ok can someone make me a list of who it is ok to make fun of now? Poor guy can’t tear others down… I feel so bad for him….

posted on May 19th, 2009 at 4:12 am

24 On May 19th, 2009, Seegz said:

Bronwyn’s right, the last joke was far too soft. I’ve heard much worse. Hell, I’ve been racking my brain and have COME UP WITH much worse. If the end text were changed to something like, “You have no idea how good you have it,” the commercial would have made more sense. It’s like they intentionally chose a joke that was soft just to make it seem like an unfair comparison.

I think they either needed to make a joke that would be fairly comparable to other comments made by bigots (Like how the justifications they use for their comments being so similar to justifications of other types of bigoted statements), or they needed to let loose with the most despicable thing they could ever think of saying about a fat person for it to work.

posted on May 19th, 2009 at 9:02 pm

25 On May 24th, 2009, beetricks said:

I am Australian, and the ‘joke’ at the end is actually a popular car sticker, usually found on Utes (common type of car in the country) along with all other manner of offensive stickers, such as “No fat chicks allowed”, “We’re full. F*** off. (Written in the middle of a map of Australia to imply that we don’t want any more immigrants or refugees). There are loads more but since moving from the country to Sydney I have successfully blocked most of them from my mind.

The ad doesn’t work for a few reasons. First ‘joke’ would be common in some parts of Australia, but would specify Aboriginals and not say ‘black’. Second joke is common too, but at least 20 years old. Third – I have never heard a joke about a Jewish person in Australia. I work with a lot of Jewish people and I think overall, Australians are rather ignorant of the entire Jewish situation. I had no idea that my boss was Jewish until we went on an excursion to the Jewish Museum. I know a lot of slack people who would happily make jokes about Aboriginals and Homosexual people, but wouldn’t make any jokes about Jewish people as we don’t consider the situation at all funny. And lastly, the ‘fat’ joke is so old here it’s now irrelivent.

All up, The Gruen Transfer’s section where people make these ads does produce some controversal stuff. But not this week. It’s an ineffective and boring ad, and so outdated and far removed from Australian’s sense of humour that most Australians would yawn at it. There are better ways to shock people about thinking about fat acceptance.

posted on May 24th, 2009 at 7:32 am

26 On May 28th, 2009, Dee said:

I have never heard of this woman before. I am just so sad that people like this exist in the media.

By the way, her nutrition school/course is a complete joke. Not only is it unaccredited, as Rachel pointed out, but it does not even match a typical program that allows one to become an RD. First you have to get a Bachelor’s degree in nutrition which takes four years and then a Master’s to become a RD. You have to be very knowledgeable about the chemistry of food as well. Obviously this woman knows nothing about food.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about her.

posted on May 28th, 2009 at 1:10 pm

27 On June 4th, 2009, Laura said:

As everyone else said, that fat person joke was way too soft.

Now I’m not going to go and say “I’m offended because you can’t compare fat hate to anti-semitism!”

No, I’m offended because you can’t compare gassing and burning Jews and then using their ashes as fertilizer to making a crack about how fat people can’t get laid.

Good idea for a commercial, but the message was not conveyed well.

posted on June 4th, 2009 at 7:28 pm

28 On July 21st, 2009, Bathurst Accommodation said:

I wonder if this had anything to do with building the profile of The Foundry? I mean, they didn’t get their ad on TV but they’ve still got the most exposure possible from their appearance.

Fairly weak ad overall though.

Agree with Beetricks also – the only Jewish jokes I’ve heard in Australia were from a Polish guy. And no one laughed when he said them either.

posted on July 21st, 2009 at 5:40 pm

29 On October 29th, 2009, Bingo said: