One of these will take the former place of that Equinox gym ad that had Bethesda moms in an uproar last summer.
The New York-based gym chain is introducing a new ad campaign for 2014, an unimportant event if not for the controversy at the Bethesda location last July.
A group created an online petition urging Equinox to take down the ad, on the side of its location at 4905 Woodmont Ave. It showed a woman in a slim dress on all fours on top of a pool table. The group called it sexist and unrelated to exercise.
The gym said it took the ad down at its regularly scheduled time and eventually replaced it with something a bit more tame. One of the three ads shown above, part of the gym’s new “Equinox Made Me Do It” campaign, will take its place, according to a marketing rep.
The ads will take Equinox back to its nearly-naked advertisement roots, though the photos seem to avoid the overtly sexual poses and model-thin women that garnered the last ad campaign criticism from the start:
Equinox, the leaders in fitness and lifestyle, unveiled today its 2014 ad campaign: Equinox Made Me Do It. The campaign, created by Wieden+Kennedy New York, highlights the results of living a more provoked life. The ads connect the cause and effect of an Equinox workout, asserting that a good workout can be a bad influence.
“We looked to our members as the core inspiration for this campaign,” said Carlos Becil, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Equinox. “Grounded in the idea of high performance living, we aim to provide our members with a holistic approach to health, and push them to seek higher goals, disrupt preconceived notions and break boundaries. This campaign embodies that disruptive spirit and speaks to our core audience.”
To illustrate the idea that Equinox gives its members the confidence to stray outside of their comfort zone, Equinox pushed creative boundaries with the campaign. Photographed by Robert Wyatt, the imagery is bold and provocative. One shot features a close-up of a young man with a black eye. Another image captures a nearly naked couple running away in the night. The moments captured exude a sense of rebellion. Lowered inhibitions and playful naughtiness are the side effects of living a more provoked life.
Beginning on January 1, Equinox will promote the campaign across digital, social, print and out-of-home. Using the hashtag #equinoxmademedoit across social media, the ads will also be displayed in Equinox locations throughout New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Boston, Dallas, Washington, DC, London and Toronto.
