"We are a nation of sympathisers for fatties", a spokesperson for Protein World tweeted to one user after she signed the change.org petition calling for the removal of the advert.
"Why make your insecurities our problem?"
I agree. It is perhaps easier for the overweight and obese to adopt a victim role rather than take responsibility for their own bodies and health.
A gym chain here has similarly come under fire by the Advertising Standards Authority for an advert deemed "likely to cause offence to most people as it ridiculed people who were overweight".
Its campaign had featured aliens that abducted fat people.
"Get the fat ones first," said the alien characters in the 13-day gym promotion, which said people could "avoid being chosen" by joining the gym.
People complained the adverts were "humiliating, hurtful and offensive" with "shaming and bullying techniques".
The gym apologised for any offence but responded that "currently Martians don't exist" so the adverts were clearly science fiction, intended to be funny.
It also defended the campaign's intentions, pointing out "inactivity was deadly and needed to be addressed urgently".
This is true. As is overeating and consumption of excessive sugar that leads to obesity.
Recent research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine said calorie-laden diets now generated more ill health than physical inactivity, alcohol and smoking combined.
While it is wrong to humiliate another individual, if we do not take a radical stance towards obesity we are heading towards a costly health crisis. There is plenty of help out there for the overweight and obese. Claiming the victim status is perhaps an excuse to stay on the couch eating.
New Zealand is the third-most obese nation in the OECD and since 2006 our rate has increased from 27 per cent of the population to 31 per cent.
One in three school children is obese or overweight and more than one-third are inactive.
The New Zealand Medical Association has called for the Government to do more to tackle obesity, with suggested measures such as a tax on sugary drinks, more protection of children from the marketing of unhealthy foods, traffic light food labelling and a ban on fast-food outlets opening near schools.
So far the Government has resisted all these measures but earlier this year Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said a review of health targets may mean a new look at obesity control.
As well as the impact on our population's health, our growing bodies are eating up cash.
The only current New Zealand study on the economic cost of obesity estimated that excess bodyweight reduced national productivity by $98 million to $225 million in 2006, on top of health care costs of $624 million, reported the New Zealand Herald.
More up to date figures would likely reveal substantially more.
As far as public awareness campaigns go, the Government has taken a soft approach to obesity compared with the shock tactics used in campaigns against smoking and drink-driving.
Possibly because it fears a similar backlash on a larger scale to that experienced by Protein World in the UK and the gym here.
Should we be so pandering to the obese? Their claims of body shaming fall flat, for example, in the case of the Protein World advert.
The model in the campaign commented on the irony of people attacking the campaign for body shaming, when in fact the protesters could equally be accused of body shaming the model simply for being fit or slim.
"I am a real person behind the image.
"I work very hard and live a healthy and active lifestyle, which is why Protein World chose me for their campaign."
It is hard losing weight. I know myself of the glum feeling that results in trying to squeeze into something that clearly no longer fits but still do nothing about it.
And yet while it is wrong to humiliate another individual, if we do not take a radical stance towards obesity we are heading towards a costly health crisis.
There is plenty of help out there for the overweight and obese.
Claiming the victim status is perhaps an excuse to stay on the couch eating.
The protest against the Beach Ready adverts seems to me fuelled not by a lofty notion of body image, but good old-fashioned jealousy.
Seeing a slim woman towering over you from a billboard while you're chowing down your chocolate muffin is a message that is hard to swallow, but that needs to be digested.
