Japan’s ‘body-shaming’ manga adverts fuel online outrage, but maybe that’s the point
- A slew of ‘harder hitting’ adverts playing on young people’s insecurities and self esteem have appeared on Japanese social media, prompting a backlash
- Thousands have signed an online petition calling for their removal, but controversy could be what the advertisers were courting all along
A slender young man has his back turned to the viewer, dismissively waving a hand. In the foreground, a round-faced girl looks shocked as a tear trickles from the corner of one eye. The advert’s message is simple: buy our products, don’t get fat, keep the boy.
“The first emotion that I had when I began to notice these sorts of advertisements was disgust,” she said. “To me, it is simply wrong to sell products by making people feel as if they are losers.”
The adverts in question can often be found attached to YouTube content in Japan and typically take the form of a short story presented as a manga with straplines such as “That double chin and fat belly is disgusting,” or “How can a person with so much acne get a girlfriend?”. They all end the same way, with the central character – and proxy for the customer – emerging slender and beautiful after using the advertiser’s products.
In a bid to put an end to such “body-shaming advertising”, Murata launched a petition on the change.org website calling on YouTube, in particular, to stop screening the ads.