Subway Sandwich Ad Says Halloween Season Is the Same as Bikini Season
“Bikini season may be over, but there’s more reasons right around the corner to stay fit.” At least that’s what Subway thinks. In a new commercial timed for Halloween, the spot has received criticism for being sexist and influencing negative body-image attitudes.
The one minute video shows two women and a man eating lunch together. One of the women turns to her fellow diners and says to them in an accusatory tone, “You guys are eating burgers?” Burgers, deemed a fatty indulgence by this judgmental character, can pack on pounds before the skin-exposing holiday. “Halloween is coming you’ve gotta stay in shape for all of the costumes,” she says. She then goes on to switch between various “sexy” (although it seems Subway has been forbidden from using that exact term) getups including Attractive Nurse, Spicy Red Riding Hood, Viking Princess Warrior, Hot Devil, Sassy Teacher, and Foxy Fullback.
Many have voiced their concerns on social media.
“We understand that some people may not have picked up on the intended humor in our Halloween commercial,” a Subway representative told Yahoo Style. “Our objective was certainly not to offend anyone.”
Costumes for Halloween, especially for women, have become more sexually explicit and have involved less materials over the years. For example, the female version of Olaf, the snowman from Disney’s animated hit “Frozen,” has become “Sexy Olaf” now that it’s October. And ensembles specifically marketed for women, and even young girls, for Halloween — including clothing in general— are particularly segregated and differentiated by gender. A Superman costume for a boy features fake muscles and covers nearly every inch of skin, while on the other hand, the women’s version of Superman becomes a two-piece with plenty of skin-exposed.
"We must work to promote images that embrace and are positive for people of all sizes," Jason Seacat, a psychologist at Western New England University specializing in female weight stigmatization, told Yahoo Style. ”Just as the overweight individual may be susceptible to instances of weight bias or fat shaming, so to are thinner individuals to criticisms like being labeled as “disgusting” or “unhealthy.” Comments such as these, in the end, will do more harm than good.”
