6 Grams of Absurdity

In a TV ad campaign for the Subway sandwich franchise, people unperturbedly refer to hamburgers and fries using the effects that eating these foods frequently may cause, such as "thunder thighs" and "blubber".



In one ad [not the one above], a 30-something woman asks what toppings are included with her hamburger. On the list? "Loss of self esteem" and "loss of boyfriend". The pound-packing effects of eating copious amounts of fast food do exist, and eating burger after burger will no doubt expand this woman's waistline.

The implied message, however, is not so tasty: if this woman becomes fat, her boyfriend will dump her because she is now ugly and undesirable. Someone's got a bad case of fatphobia. Many large girls are beautiful, just as many skinnier girls aren't (and vise versa). And to say all big girls are such because they pig out on fast food is a rude, sweeping generalization. The other suggestion, that this woman's boyfriend dated her purely because of her physique, and that her physique is her only desirable attribute, is, while possible, equally absurd.