In fact, companies peddling diets have a history of repackaging the work of body acceptance to sell what is, at its essence, body shame. “One of the clearest examples would be the phrase ‘diets don’t work.’ This is something fat activists were saying pretty much from the beginning,” blogger Brian Stuart told me. “An integral part of diet marketing has been to define diets as competitors’ products and your own product as something different. A ‘lifestyle change,’ a ‘whole new way of eating,’ or some such.” How do they get away with these faux health messages and plagiarism? “Fat activists are so marginalized that the Fat Shame Industry knows that it can steal from them without impunity,” Stuart tweeted in response to the news that Special K has now incorporated the body positive measuring tape into its marketing.

And Kellogg isn’t the only one trying to cash in on body positivity. The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty has faced widespread criticism for promoting a version of “confidence” that still validates the pursuit of conventional beauty while it sells us firming lotion. Vichy pokes fun at the absurdity of our obsession with cellulite removal ina commercial that is smart, funny, and hawking…cellulite cream. LowLow (low-calorie, many-unpronouncable-ingredients spread) cleverly skewers diet commercial clichés in its clever, well-received “Adland” spot. Yeah, ok. Pass the butter. These examples might not be blatantly lifting specific initiatives as Special K did, but theyare opportunistic and loaded with hypocrisy.