| News & Know How | News
New Equinox Ads Attract Attention 2012 Campaign generates spirited debate pro and con
The company’s 2012 ad campaign, shot by Terry Richardson, a cutting-edge, but often controversial fashion photographer, features sophisticated images of men, women, children, and dogs—none of them exercising, and none of them seen in a club—that seem torn from the pages of Vogue or Vanity Fair. The photos, sugges- tively labeled with themed captions—e.g., “Victory,” “Flexibility,” “Rejuvenation”— are bold, sexy, and visually stunning, and designed to evoke feelings rather than communicate information.
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Like a 2010 Richardson campaign for Equinox, this one sparked a flurry of comments on Facebook, which, in turn, generated heavy Internet coverage. Some people have called the ads too “racy,” reacting to the scanty clothing the models wear and how they were posed. Others complained that they look “runway thin,” even “skeletal,” and that they don’t convey a healthy image of women to young girls. One critic noted that the ads don’t look as if they’re promoting a health club: “Equinox is promoting health and fitness, so I would like to see some healthy and fit women in their ad campaigns who look like they could actually survive a typical Equinox class. Can we see a little bit of muscle … on these ladies the next time around?” Offering an opposing point of view was a Facebook contributor who wrote: “I love the new ad campaign. I make commercials, and if I had been asked to do this ad campaign, this is exactly what I would have done. The people who complain have missed the point … and the message it’s meant to convey. That this is not just a gym. The selection of models and the images show Equinox as high fashion, cool, hip, and edgy.” A spokesperson for one Equinox facility concurred, explaining the ads reflect its brand—“provocative, sexy, edgy, ‘aspirational,’ and inspiring.” —|
| Research Results | Mandatory P.E. Would Help
> For many years, it’s been a continuing lament, common among both parents and fitness professionals: Children aren’t getting enough physical activity during the school day, often because few states require or even encourage it. The results of new research suggest that more schools would
incorporate either recess or physical education (PE) classes if states were to implement stronger policies with respect to the matter. A cross-sectional analysis of nearly 1,800 public schools in 47
states revealed that only 6% of them now require a daily recess period. The study, authored by Sandy Slater, Ph.D., and her col- leagues at the University of Chicago, was published online in The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. Only 13% of the states require that students get 150 minutes of PE per week, as recom- mended by both the American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). Yet, although they’re not required to do so, 69% of the 1,761
schools studied reported that they do offer 20 minutes of recess per day; however, of that number, only 17% offer 150 minutes of PE per week. The study, based on interviews with school principals, disclosed that a greater number of schools provide 20 minutes
16 Club Business Internat ional | APRIL 2012 |
ihrsa.org
Railyard Fitness’ obstacle course proves no barrier for kids
of daily recess or 150 minutes of PE per week when the state requires it. For many schools, though, it seems to be an “either/or” situation—they offer either one option or the other, but not both. It’s not surprising that schools make time for physical activity
when a state favors it, observes Kristine Madsen, M.D., of the University of California in San Francisco. She questions, how- ever, why so few states have adopted such policies, particularly given the increasing evidence that “lack of physical activity may be a far greater public-health problem than obesity.” —|
f the first objective of advertising is to get noticed, then the Equinox Fitness Clubs, the Manhattan-based chain, have done it again.
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