Gillette image of plus-size woman in bikini sparks outrage

April 10, 2019

Gillette is making waves with a photo it tweeted of an obese woman posing on a beach in a bikini, with her curves and cellulite on full display.

The razor maker last week posted the image of Anna O’Brien, a plus-size fashion, fitness and lifestyle blogger, under its @GilletteVenus handle, captioning it, “Go out there and slay the day.” Some Twitter users said the ad glamorizes obesity and that Gillette is “irresponsibly” promoting an unhealthy lifestyle for profit.

“This woman will die of heat disease before @potus completes his second term. I hope she’s just as happy and carefree for her last 6 years of life. Everybody should live
Some commenters defended O’Brien while keeping their aim focused on Gillette. “There’s no reason to be rude or unkind to someone who is obese and there is no reason @GilletteVenus should be encouraging life-threatening obesity. This would also be true if they used an anorexic model. I wish the model they used well but Gillette should know better,” @robbystarbuck said.

The company’s effort to promote inclusive notions of beauty seemed to have backfired, with some users writing that they would no longer buy from Gillette.

“Wow, this is so unhealthy! Obesity causes cardiovascular diseases, type 2 Diabetes, sleep apnea, depression & certain types of cancer and death. Why would you show younger girls a picture like this? Another reason not to purchase your products! @lovinbeauty wrote.

“Please stop. Promoting this is dangerous. Being unhealthy is not a good thing,” @BrennaSpencer said, addressing the company directly.

Other Twitter users equated celebrating obesity with promoting bad habits like smoking and alcoholism.

“She lives out loud”

Citing its women-focused brand, Gillette responded to the widespread criticism: “Venus is committed to representing beautiful women of all shapes, sizes and skin types because ALL types of beautiful skin deserve to be shown. We love Anna because she lives out loud and loves her skin no matter how the ‘rules’ say she should display it.”

More than one-third of American adults are considered obese. That can cause coronary artery disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, obstructive sleep apnea, osteoarthritis of the knees and other joints, as well as fertility problems, according NYU Langone Health. Obesity can be caused by genetic factors as well as people’s exercise and eating habits.

Experts believe Gillette intended to make a splash by wading into polarizing territory among a new generation of consumers who view brands as extensions of themselves.

“This wasn’t the case a decade ago, but you have a new generation of consumers that actually care about things and want to see brands take positions,” said Arun Lakshmanan, marketing professor at the University at Buffalo School of Management.

Still, Gillette could benefit in the long run, he said. “They are probably calculating that they will be on the right side of the numbers in terms of people who feel positively rather than negatively about the company.”

“At the end of the day, this increases the memory and recall of the Gillette Venus brand,” Lakshmanan said.

First published on April 10, 2019 / 1:33 PM