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Apple Pulls "You Can't Be Too Thin" Ads

by Tom Conlon on August 24, 2007 at 01:24 PM



Clearly, none of the marketing brains over at Apple reads 'US Weekly' (if there's any actual reading to be done of that magazine at all). With every other cover faking concern over the Skeletor-like build of another malnourished female celebrity, there's no way Apple would have dreamed up the "You can't be too thin" online campaign for the new iMac -- a rather weak tag line if you ask us, anyway.

But, that's what Apple went with, and soon after the company was called out by the Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness, which posted a rather nasty press release wondering what kind of message Apple was sending to our youth.

Now, in a move that's so very uncharacteristically Apple, the company has actually changed the campaign to read, simply, "The all-new, all-in-one iMac." Yawn. (Thanks GeekSugar!)

Hey, but Apple isn't the only one in trouble lately for not really thinking an ad campaign through before hitting the 'Go' button. Here are few recent ones you might remember:

Racist Sony Ad
What was Sony thinking? An ad for the white PSP showed a white woman violently grabbing the face of a black woman and ran with the slogan, "White is coming." The ads were pulled after accusations of racism, and Sony apologized. (Spotted at GameDaily)

Captivity Torture Ad
These graphic images of actress Elisha Cuthbert being tortured and killed in the movie 'Captivity' began showing up on cabs and billboards in Los Angeles and New York. The public freaked and the ads were pulled. But, the movie's producer, After Dark, never fessed up to any wrongdoing. The company claimed that the wrong files were accidentally sent to the billboard company. (Spotted at 5 Blogs Before Lunch)


This past March following protests in Spain and Italy, Dolce & Gabbana pulled this print advertising campaign, which protesters called a 'rape fantasy' and which the National Organization for Women said promotes violence against women. Though the ad was pulled, Domenico Dolce claimed the ad was simply intended to "recall an erotic dream, a sexual game." (Spotted at MSNBC)

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Tags: ad, advertising, apple, eating disorder, EatingDisorder, legal, scandal, thin

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