Giggle

I disagree wholeheartedly. While it's true that obesity is a health risk factor, I'd contend of it wasn't their intent to publicly shame- why would they do this? Especially in a country with free healthcare. Let's assume that (asides the people who insist being obese isn't unhealthy) there are people who don't know being overweight is a risk. Why wouldn't this be a conversation to be had between a patient and a doctor? If you aren't obese are you supposed to see this poster and decide you were planning on being obese but now you'll put down the tub of butter because you don't want cancer? This message was crafted specifically to be salacious. It doesn't offer anything positive. Ok,obesity is linked to cancer, where is the prevention or support or solution mentioned? Why call out fat people as at risk and not even offer anything?If this wasn't meant to shame what was it meant to do, teach people not to be fat? How often do you meet someone who wish to be obese? People know it's not good

Because Britain has the highest rate of obesity in Europe.
It was created as a warning. If your obese and you are this hopefully it will make you think twice and take steps to reduce the risk of cancer and become a healthier person.

Since @guest incorrectly stated that the U.K. has “free healthcare” I would like to point out that the system is TAXPAYER FUNDED. Because of this it is feasible that healthy behavior could be legislated. Cigarettes outlawed, alcohol rationed, red meat rationed, obesity eradicated by rationing of resources and “fat camps”, extreme sports outlawed, motorcycles banned. What is stopping these regulations and more in the name of “public health” and cost savings?

Ah. Because they didn't know before? Or because all the other adds and pathetic "fat slob" characters in screen and print weren't as clever as this? Or because of all the reasons they weren't making lifestyle changes the top of the list was they hadn seen a subway advert yet? Maybe they didn't care about death from heart failure at 50, but cancer at 60 will scare em straight? But perhaps this is true. Maybe without this Britain couldn't figure out that being obese was unhealthy. Too bad it doesn't tell you how to be healthier, or point you to any resources on the subject. I guess your first "workout" is at the library doing research? Is it like- tough love? Like- I care that you're obese enough to put a sign up, but not so much that I'll help you. Like- is this one of those "figuring it out builds character" things? Or is this just to help obese people develops thicker skin so if they get teased they aren't as easily hurt? So many questions.

What is wrong with you?
For years we’ve been warning people about the dangers of obesity. High blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease etc. People either don’t care or ignore it because they know it’s true.

@pokethebear- apologies. I meant "tax payer funded healthcare" but I got the character limit as is using the shorter "free." While I'm all for freedom, I like my America and I take it free with two shots of liberty (yee haw,) its true that a "father knows best state" could regulate those things and could justify it in the public interest as well as tax payer financial interest. Maybe that's "better" than letting people be free to choose poor options when so many show they will. I dunno. I'll still take freedom, but whatever works for them. That said- we can get the state as involved as we like to the point you've got a government issue personal trainer making sure you're as jacked as Bruce Lee- but that still doesn't make it ok to pointlessly shit on other people even if you want to think it's for their own good.

@sincere_milkshake- exactly. People ignore it or don't care. Do you think they'll ignore this too? Probably if they ignored the rest. Which basically shows the game doesn't it? They ignore it or don't care- so maybe they'll care if you... publicly shame them? If you publicly and loudly call them out, make it a social stigma to be fat to the point where even if they don't care about their health their social and emotional well being will be under siege until they get down to a healthy weight? Literally- WHAT IS THE POINT IF PEOPLE ALREADY IGNORE OR DON'T CARE? If you hit a child to make them behave and they don't- do you keep hitting them even when it doesn't work? Should you hit them at all? Assured the 20th time you hit them if they didn't learn the 21st won't teach and now you're just beating them for no reason. There are better ways than this. This is repugnant.

No one is being publicly shamed.
Have we become so politically correct that we can’t even talk about health risks anymore.
The advert does not say fat people are disgusting or anything to make them feel bad.it just says that if you’re obese, you have a larger risk of getting cancer. That is all.

You're still missing the point. Why? Why does it need to be said? Who is under the impression that being obese is the best way to live a long healthy life? Of all the ways to say it, why say it like that- with no solutions, no positive reinforcement? There's no resource there to get help, just a message "did you know being fat is unhealthy?" Duh-ur. Try this: "poor people are more likely to end up in prison." Its true, and it's a reminder to the poor to be careful not to do things to get put in prison no? Of course if they stop being poor, often caused by a combination of environment, upbringing, and bad choices- they could live better lives. Why doesn't that message need said? Likely because it's pretty obvious, and it isn't helpful. A poster with links to resources to help gain education, manage or grow wealth, save, or other programs might be useful. Otherwise ask why this message and why this audience?

Probably because the NHS is under strain at the moment, so reminding people to take care of their health will prevent probelmes in the future.
Also there are so many people out there that are in denial about the effects that obesity has on your body? Most of them are pretty vocal about this and try to convince others that being obese is a totally fine and healthy way to live.

It's not. Obviously not, yet they are. So here's a test: go find a YouTube video or something full of flat earthers, moon landing deniers, con trail believers etc. now post up: "the earth isn't flat. Science proves it." See how many people you sway to your cause. Just those words. No links, nothing else. Probably not many? Why? Because the people in denial of obvious facts aren't going to be convinced by more obvious facts. In fact, the more you argue the more defensive they are likely to get. Even if they start to believe they are wrong, they've been called out in public and wont relent to save face. This is a well documented human defense mechanism. They didn't want to believe it from the start because it hurt their self image, hurting it more won't "break" them like a wild pony. They need built up and made to feel safe. The war on drugs and more have shown scare tactics seldom work, and when they do it is only through lies and manipulation.

This sign is supposed to be the compelling final blow that reaches through to the sort of person that goes on national tv with no degree and argues against doctors that medical science is wrong?

Probably for the same reason they put up anti-smoking posters and don't just ban the sale of cigarettes. Everyone knows that they cause cancer and yet people still smoke. Yet we don't hear or see smokers yelling about smoke shaming. Lets at least be honest in that people don't like to be told they're wrong and seeing a poster that does just that in people that are probably self-conscious about their bad habits which directly affect their body and body image is likely causing an over-reaction on their part. The fact that it needs to be said regardless of that over reaction is because there are so many people out there that want to bury their heads and just ignore the issue. Until people stop complaining about faux fat shaming and start responding with hey, so how can I fix this in myself it needs to be said.

In my case- as I state in another post here- I do fix it myself. As in for other people. I've worked as a personal trainer and while I left that field as a career I still train people on the side. I specialize in those at the farthest extremes of overweight and underweight and trying to help them achieve both a healthier more able body as well as a healthier self image. I do this through tailored exercise/nutrition/lifestyle plans that fit the individuals needs and goals, and by working closely with councilers and therapists that help with underlying behaviors and roadblocks. One of the hardest parts of the process is getting them to accept that they need to change even when they came to see me because they knew and wanted to. It involves a lot of overcoming negative stereotypes and the fear of being judged as they try to better themselves, as well as getting them to accept that mass beauty standards are unrealistic and they dont have to feel bad about who they are.

Many see fitness as a punishment and often defensively lash out as they may know it's a smarter behavior but change is hard. They transfer the stress and unhappiness of change into the idea they are being forced even when it was their idea. If you can get them past that and keep them positively motivated until they start to see and feel a real difference- you can change the lifestyle that caused the problem. They form new habits and after comparing how they feel now to before it's no longer about shame or guilt or fear, they don't want to feel that way ever again. The physical activity gets easier and it's less a punishment as their energy grows. They start to feel good. That's the key. Replace the bad feeling s with good. Many obese are stress eaters. They know it's dumb. It's their mechanism. They eat when they feel bad. This doesn't make people feel good. It's counter productive. You can train with a whip or with a carrot. I try to stay away from the whip, it doesn't work as well.

Which is a great way to help people looking for help. Or to help people that don't know what to do or what can be done. But the issue is you have all these people getting news coverage that are saying being obese is fine, and doctors are just lying to you. You should be considered beautiful by everyone and if they don't find you beautiful they're selfish pricks. Until it becomes as uncontested as smoking it needs to be said over and over and over. Not in a shaming method but just like they did in the poster in a completely informative manner without specifically pointing the finger at individuals.

But here's where the analogy to smoking breaks down- smoking was known to be unhealthy for decades. People smoked. They upped the pressure and appealed to the relatives and loved ones of smokers to help them quit out of love- to mixed results. Where we finally started seeing radical reductions was when smoking awareness shifted hard to second hand smoke. The dialog changed from protecting your health to being a public danger (which smoking is.) That's when we started seeing strong laws to ban smoking in common areas, and painting smokers as dangers to your health and your children. Then for a while there was a big push for "third hand smoke" which has largely been ignored.

Why is this relevant? Smoking is bad for you and others. But now we see the narrative of obesity. Will it follow suit? Will we start steering the dialog so that the obese are leeches on society making selfish choices at our expense? See- you can be big and beautiful, you can be big and healthy (that's rarer), but these people pushing that there's no problem with obesity are wackos. Instead of a poster why not get them off the news, or work at transforming their views so they can be reformed acolytes and speak of their positive transformation? There are many ways to approach cancer and public health. Breast cancer gets sympathy and pink ribbons as branding. So lead the charge on obesity with a blunt scare tactic? Why not remind people to eat healthy or make healthy choices? That targets everyone obese or not?

@guest. I take my freedom grilled with double cheese and mayo and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream for dessert. I don’t support legislating “good” behavior, the thought worries me, but unfortunately I see it on the horizon.

@pokethebear- I'm with you. It's been happening a long time. Born in blood and fire freedom doesn't go out in a desperate fight and desperate battle cry, but instead is signed away for access to an app and fades to the sound of "think of the children!" Maybe it is a better world. I don't know- to kids growing up in that world maybe they'll like it more, and look t us as barbarians. After I'm deaf the world belongs to whoever is left and they can do whatever they want. While I'm still here though I'd rather they not make it illegal for people like us to live our lives. Funny thing is people sure care how others want to kill themselves but they don't give 2 shits about how others want to live. Go figure.

My favorite part are the down votes. I'm over here- a former obese child, who works with people with weight issues to get healthy- I'm giving my opinion based on my personal experience and my interactions with others- and I'm being downvoted for saying that of all the ways you could try to uplift someone to make better choices, trying to scare them with cancer is the one to use. Here's a fun fitness fact- a ton of people are on "steroids." Despite being mostly illegal in the US and Canada it's being called a silent epidemic. Despite knowing the risks athletes, lifters, and regular people are using. Why? They don't care- or they don't care until it's too late. Go watch Rich Piana talk about steroids- right before he died of sudden heart failure in his 40's he was all about them and listed all the risks. Near his death he started to reduce it didn't stop using. So please- tell me how scaring people works so well compared to getting to the issue causing the problem.

... The dramatic irony of which is, of course, that the person from whom I take two of those examples... was morbidly obese because she had had cancer.

As @abel_hazard says. What is the point? Do people really need to be told being obese is bad? Is that something you need a public billboard for or maybe something a doctor should tell you? There's a reason your doctors appointments and medical info is kept private. The obese can't hide their weight, so the whole world gets to watch as they get told by a sign they are going to die because they're fat. No number for support, no link to an information site or weight loss plan. Just "fat=cancer." Those ads worked so well on drugs and alcohol didn't they? Somewhere a kid was about to eat his first tastee cake and he saw that sign and it scared him away. Little jimmy didn't want cancer so he swore off pies. Who are these ads even for? They exist just to call out a fact everyone knows.

Wtf. The advert is not shaming anyone. All it’s doing is reminding people of the risks that come with being obese. No one is saying they’re disgusting, no one is being exposed.
You can’t run away and cry fat shaming every time someone tries to bring up the health risks that being obese brings.

I don't have to. I'm 6'1" and 202lbs, I have 18-20% bf off season and 12-15% on, my leanest was 8% when I was going through a phase where otter bod was in: I'm out on cardio (winter is chubby season) but in a few months I'll be back to sub 6 minute miles, I was never big on endurance running, its catabolic, but I used to do 10 miles 3 times a week when I did longer cardio. So as someone who's spent their adult life being active, who's trained and coached (with a soft spot for those starting at the more extremes of large and small) and who grew up as a fat little fuck who got winded on stairs- I may not be an expert but that's my opinion. Oh wait. Hold on. I just remembered. I actually have a little peace of paper from some shady place with "UC" in the name that says I am in fact an expert. Well, never mind that last part.

How'd I lose the weight? Was it the ads for health, being picked last for sports, being the worst in gym class, or being made fun of by my peers, excluded, ostracized, feeling of always be alone? Was it the constant shame, the fact that almost every fat character was a bafoon or loser? Did I have a pivotal moment where I realized the health risks? Nah. I had a terrible unrelated injury where my insides came out of my body. I ate through a tube for a year and dropped down to 90lbs in my early 20's. After I went back to eating like shit but the operations left me almost impossible to gain weight. I was a beanpole suddenly and wanted desperately to gain weight but couldn't. Then I met an awesome young lady who got me interested in fitness, studied, ate and worked out right, and gained 40 lean pounds. Yay. So that's just my experience, but in my own and all the people I've worked with's experiences I have never met someone who this would be the best/healthiest way to motivate them.