Equinox gym is being accused of sexism, thanks to its billboard a woman wearing a short, skin-tight dress in a high-traffic area of Bethesda, Maryland.
A group of activists are calling on the luxury fitness franchise to remove the billboard of the woman, who can be seen on all fours on a pool table:
Sexism Matters launched a blog and a petition on Change (dot) org on June 28, demanding that a local Equinox gym take down the billboard ASAP.
The group says it promotes "a not-so-subtle sexism that infects our culture and degrades an entire gender," and more than 300 signatories agree.
The ad was shot by famed, controversial photographer Terry Richardson, whose Kate Upton Cat Daddy video and Lindsay Lohan pics are legendary.
The shot features a model in a tiny minidress and high heels, on her hands and knees on a pool table, grasping a cue along with the caption, "Dexterity."
Equinox hired Richardson to shoot the ad campaign, which also features photos of men and women in suggestive, nonathletic poses in other settings.
One picture shows a woman from the waist down, walking up a staircase wearing only black underwear and heels, with the caption "Stair Master."
One commenter saw it differently.
"These women do not look fit ... this self-obsessed need-to-be-voraciously-predatorily-sexy thing is out of place," wrote one commenter on Facebook.
"Another couple million spent on the degradation of women," added another, as backlash against Equinox spread. "Good work fitness guys."
It looks like they got the message ... maybe.
A spokesperson from Equinox told Yahoo! in an email, "The billboard has been up since January and will be coming down mid-July as previously scheduled."
But don't bet that this is the last controversy you've seen from Equinox, whose previous ads have also been called also been called sexist and offensive.
In 2012, its (female) CEO said the ads were "gatekeepers" that separated out potential clients who might not be (what Equinox deems) hip or edgy enough.
"We know we're not for everyone. Either you get it or you don't," she said.
What do you think of the above Equinox billboard?
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