You’ve all seen them. Sweaty, toned men and women, pumping the iron, working on their gluteus on the stair stepper in sports bras and spankies; guys checking themselves out in the mirrors while they exercise their biceps by doing curls in the weight room. Seriously, why? Aren’t you supposed to be advertising to the percentage of the population who feels massively self-conscious about working out next to these individuals?

There is no body shaming here at all. Fit or unfit, tall or short, curvy or slender, purple or green, you get the message. As a person who (admittedly) sometimes tears apart advertising, gym tactics at recruiting members is completely swayed. Yes, there is definitely a market for signing the gym addicts into contracts. I’m betting there is an even larger market for signing people who don’t regularly go to gyms, into contracts. I’m also willing to argue that they don’t sign contracts, or if they are in a contract, they don’t make the payments worth their while.

Why? Well, we’ll restrict this discussion to advertisements alone. A person who is self conscious of their physical appearance and ability is going to compare themselves to the person on the treadmill next to them; ESPECIALLY if they are running a ten minute mile, or less. It’s not their fault, but insecurities are insecurities. So creating advertisements with socially acceptable body types out there is not going to win you contracts.

“But every step you take is bettering your body, tomorrow your body will be different than today”. Yes, this is true. But when your counterpart actor in the weight room is showing off his stuff, it doesn’t seem like the work you put in now will ever get you to that point. It’s very difficult to visualize the future self that you are working towards. This applies to multiple aspects of a person’s life. Spiritually, academically, emotionally and physically; when studying with someone who has much better understanding of content, I definitely concern myself with my abilities. Maybe this is my own self-talk that I need to work on, that’s an ongoing battle. However, it’s natural to compare yourself to others.

I've watched enough 'Mad Men' to know that there is some puppet master behind the advertising. Someone is saying, well people want to look like that individual, so we should put him there. Maybe some people want to look like the perfectly fit person. Some people may not want to, maybe they want to maintain and that's a difficult enough task! Maybe they are perfectly happy with their bodies and aren't looking to change, but enjoy a good trek on the treadmill! The point is that, for those individuals who may have overwhelming insecurities, could greatly benefit from the endorphins that exercise brings; there are body types and individuals NOT included that frequent gyms for motivations besides fitting into a specific mold. A change in marketing or message could benefit people and business.