Malaysian slimming product C-Trimax cops flak for fat shaming

Malaysian slimming product C-Trimax has come under fire for fat shaming in its latest ad, after the video went viral on Facebook. The three-minute video garnered over 2.2 million views, 48k reactions, 8.8k shares and 3.3k comments at the time of writing.The video features a female protagonist who wishes to get married, but her boyfriend complains that he is unable to afford a wedding. He proceeds to whip out a calculator to count the cost needed to provide for her should they get married, due to her eating habits.The boyfriend then calls the female protagonist a "pregnant bear", adding that he would have to double the cost of groceries if he were to marry her. Frustrated, the female protagonist decided to lose weight. Upon seeing her transformation, her boyfriend grew excited and said he would have married her three years ago if she had slimmed down.Many netizens criticised the ad for being superficial and questioned the quality of the story line. Some also said that one should lose weight for health reasons, not because of men. Meanwhile, a few others defended the ad, saying that this video is targeted at females who aspire to change their lifestyle and looks, adding that they only pay attention to their personal grooming before marriage.A+M has reached out to C-Trimax for comment.C-Trimax is not the only brand to have copped flak for insensitive advertising. Last year, SlimmeWhite came under fire for implying that being slim and fair is the only way to rekindle a husband's love for his wife. Watsons Malaysia was also criticised for its blackface "Legenda Cun Raya" campaign, with netizens deeming the ad to be racist, insensitive and tasteless.On the global front, Dove was also mocked for its "Real Beauty Bottles" campaign, which featured bottles contoured to represent six different body shapes. While Dove said the bottles were designed to "celebrate the many shapes and sizes of beauty", social media reactions ranged from bemused to offended.Read also:Dove body wash ad ‘misses the mark’ and turns black woman whiteWatsons Malaysia’s blackface Raya ad labelled racist by netizensPepsi pulls Kendall Jenner ad, apologises for ‘missing the mark’Bata Malaysia faces heat for unintentional “racist” promoThe Body Shop Malaysia called out for racist job ad, says it was ‘unsanctioned’