The funny thing is that single ad may have some of the arguably fittest people in the world all together in one picture. Yet if I showed it to a "normal" person and asked them to guess the profession of those pictured, they'd probably be like "I dunno, office workers? Oh... yeah... I guess your right, that one guy does look pretty in shape."
From the reactions to this thread so far, the perception of what fitness is and what fitness looks like is not even entirely clear to us within the sport, and I would imagine completely lost on the general public.
this ad is consistent with the odd ones from before with Crowie shaving his head and Sam McGlone getting a tramp stamp tattoo...right? not sure who is head of their marketing, but i think the ads are a bit off.
on second thought, the ad has created this post....and we're all talking about it. maybe the next ad will have a 14 year old Miley Cyrus humping a saddle or something. any publicity is good publicity!!!
I haven't seen the pics in question, so I can't say exactly what is going on, but you all need to understand what happens to photographs in post-processing, particularly for advertising. Typically, what appears in print looks vastly different from what was in front of the camera or even what came off of the storage card. Which is to say, depending on what FiZik and their advertising editors were going for, it sounds like they processed these images for a hard edged, high contrast type of look....which can be overdone to the point that people look what in this case may be taken for unhealthy.
I would venture to say I could take a photo of any of you and make you look "unhealthy". And I'm NOT talking about the "airbrushing" types of stuff where whole roles of bodyfat disappear that is done for the fashion mags...which I'll assume was not done here, as athletes rarely go through that kind of treatment. I'm talking about accentuating veins, hip bones, etc...which you will see on most elite triathletes.
I guess what I'm getting at is that you all shouldn't be necessarily laying the fault at the athletes' feet for looking "unhealthy". If you don't like, or don't understand the ad, talk to FiZik's advertising people. They made the decision to put something like that in print.
Who is the art director for this? How did those shoes Chrissie is wearing slipped into the picture. Oh and I hope they feed them after the shoot. looks like they are starving.
They all look incredibly healthy to me. The ad does not look at all disturbing.
x2 on this. CW's admittedly quite thin per the usual, but other than that everyone looks perfectly healthy and it's not overly sexual in any way. Beyond simply associating all of these great, fit-looking athletes with their product in a very mildly provocative ad, I don't see anything at all near disturbing. ------- http://www.y-rocket.blogspot.com/
Put her in some 4 inch Stilleto's and the bitching about unhealthy will go away!!! I'll beat my ass today, to kick yours tomorrow!!!
Sounds like you got some David Carradine type fetishes going on there. We're not going to find you in a closet with your pants down and a belt around your neck are we?
Agreed that they look healthy. In fact, better than healthy. If you want to get into the sport to lose weight and get curvateous to look like one of the swimsuit models, hey, the sport is good for that. If you want to go fast, your body will adapt, and morph. Those athletes are fucking GODS (and goddesses) as physique goes, and they're definitely healthy.
I met with Mark Allen yesterday, and he said he saw Chrissie duck out of the press conference in Kona last year and marveled at her body. "She's built like a giant lever," he said. Perfect description. She's unbelievably healthy, built perfectly for the sport to go fast. Not your cup of tea? No worries. But just because they don't fit your definition of healthy doesn't mean they aren't more healthy than you. I've seen Chrissie train and eat, and believe me, she is meticulous about a clean diet, rest, etc. She is one of the healthiest athletes I've ever met.
Props to Fizik for that ad. In my opinion, those are the bodies we should aspire to. Jay Prasuhn Marketing Specialist, American Bicycle Group (Quintana Roo//Litespeed//Obed) twitter.com/jayprasuhn
It's no worse than what Calvin Klein has been putting out there for 30 years.
I can't criticize them as athletes, they're all capable of handing most of us our asses (in Triathlon) :)
Calvin Klein?
I was thinking they are just one awkward pairing away from an Abercrombie & Fitch ad.
Dude Calvin Klein has been doing this stuff long before A&F was pissing their diapers. See the pic someone else posted... it may as well BE a Calvin Klein ad.
I'm not saying I don't like the ladies in this pictures physique as I enjoy a toned and athletic lady...... but I will say there are only two people in this picture that might need to be wearing a bikini top. both of which are far too fast for me to mention who i think they are.....
I can understand the discussion about Chrissie looking healthy or not; it's about one's perception, so whatever. But the fact that some people get actually offended by that photo is ridiculous and primitive.