Thousands of people angered by the advert for Protein World weight-loss products will protest in Hyde Park on Saturday

People angered by a controversial advert featuring a bikini-wearing model and asking “Are you beach body ready?” are planning a demonstration, complaining that the campaign promotes negative body issues.

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Thousands of people have signed an online petition for the posters, for Protein World weight-loss products, to be removed from London Underground stations. Others have organised a “taking back the beach” protest, set for London’s Hyde Park on Saturday.

The Advertising Standards Authority said it had received 216 complaints with the general nature being that the ad is “offensive, irresponsible and harmful because it promotes an unhealthy body image”. The ASA said it was carefully assessing the complaints to establish if there are ground for further action.

More than 44,000 people had signed the petition at change.org by lunchtime on Monday. Others angered by the ad have shared pictures, using the hashtag #everybodysready, of defaced posters.



Roxy Watson (@Roxy_Watson) Loved seeing this earlier. I love london! #everybodysready pic.twitter.com/EUknYR55lW

SARAHTURNER (@scaturner) Been waiting for this ad to cause a stir #eachbodysready #everybodysready pic.twitter.com/WTMLLzCujC

The Facebook page for Saturday’s demonstration at 3pm reads: “Do you look like the model on the poster? Awesome, step this way, gorgeous! Are you a size 24? Come on down, beautiful!! Are you a guy? Get those swimming shorts out”.

The online petition reads: “Protein World is directly targeting individuals, aiming to make them feel physically inferior to the unrealistic body image of the bronzed model, in order to sell their product.

“Perhaps not everyone’s priority is having a ‘beach body’ (by the way, what is that?), and making somebody feel guilty for not prioritising it by questioning their personal choices is a step too far.

“A body’s function is far more intricate and important than looking ‘beach ready’, so in fact it is Protein World who have confused their priorities, if anyone”.

Protein World’s Twitter account has been taking a robust approach to its critics on social media. Using the hashtag #getagrip, it tweeted: “here to motivate, not commiserate”. It also retweeted former Apprentice contestant Katie Hopkins who wrote: “Chubsters, quit vandalising Protein World ads and get your arse running on the road. Feminism isn’t an excuse for being fat. Eat less, move more.”

Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) 44,000 fat feminazis sign petition against @ProteinWorld ads...in between eating biscuits and chips nom nom nom! http://t.co/t36V4C4aRi

Richard Staveley, head of marketing at Protein World, said: “We want to encourage discussion on this. Ultimately we want to encourage a healthier, fitter nation. We want to encourage everybody to be the very best version of themselves. It’s been quite odd how many people we’ve found who are far quicker to fit shame then fat shame. And, you know, if that makes us bad, then so be it. And if Katie Hopkins is in agreement with us then we’re delighted.”

Protein World (@ProteinWorld) @lawrencedarcy This is not feminism, it is extremism. #getagrip #BeachBodyReady #Winning 👍🏼

He said the company was not concerned about the petition and would not be removing the ad: “There’s more than two and a half million people who use London Underground every day and sales have considerably jumped, so regardless of that 40,000 I think I can comfortably say that we’ve had ... it’s been better for us, there’s been far more positive reaction than negative.”

This month the ASA investigated nine issues regarding Protein World’s website and upheld all of them. Questions had been raised over whether a number of health and nutrition claims were authorised on the EU Register, and a competition featured before and after photographs which implied a rate of amount of weight loss.