Every once in a while, we all need a little motivation to improve our overall health and fitness .
Some encouragement and a little inspiration can go a long way.
Unfortunately, in trying to give its members a little nudge, one gym has hit a sour note.
A franchise of Anytime Fitness, whose headquarters is in Minnesota, sent out a mass email which took a wrong turn.
"I need you to do me a favour," reads the email. "Think about the warm days of summer ahead. Warm summer night breezes. Lake or beach time."
So far, quite a nice read - but it quickly went south.
"Shorts, bathing suits, flip flops, the smell of suntan lotion. And LOTS of pictures of you that will be posted online forever."
Uh-oh.
"LOTS of sucking in, side turns, skinny arm posts, and god forbid, a side pic while sitting down."
Yikes!
"Do me a second favour: Take your hand, and grab the excess you have on your waist (front/back/sides). Can you pinch it? Or can you grab it? Well, I want to call it what it is… FAT."
Outraged, Mora Reinka tweeted the email and it quickly attracted a lot of heat.
One response read: "The ad industry is often vile, but this is one of the more appalling and shameless ones I've seen.
"To cultivate [and] profit off of body shame, which too many of us are already made to feel."
The gym has since apologised and explained it was an attempt at "humour".
MirrorOnline has approached Anytime fitness for comment.
