The Virgin Active Irony


I was in a taxi when I realized that the big driver (by weight, not street cred) was wearing an equally oversized golf t-shirt which had Virgin Active’s logo.

A few gear changes along the line, I thought to myself, “…but that’s like seeing a homeless person wearing RE/MAX’s promotional t-shirt.”

(There’s nothing wrong with that, ambition is a precious commodity.)

But as the taxi did what it does best, beat robots; I started to find Virgin Active’s plus-sized promotional t-shirt a bit ironic, but more deplorably, self-contradictory.

Wouldn’t it be foolish for a school that attempts to lower the number of students who bunk school, to offer free merry-go-round rides at the park during school hours?

Wouldn’t it be childish for a parent that wants to encourage their kid to eat healthier and less junk food, to double the kid’s pocket money in such a pursuit?

What is the best thing to buy for an overweight couch potato friend? A skipping rope, or a more comfortable couch?

Wouldn’t it be more encouraging for one to buy their Size 34 friend that wishes to lose weight — a Size 30 — and not a Size 34 pair of pants?

I say Virgin Active should exclude plus-size, and smaller oversized t-shirts, from their promotional t-shirts campaign orders. And then, they should deliberately handout smaller t-shirts to overweight people who it’s evident that the t-shirts won’t fit.

Image what would go through the mind of an overweight person who rarely thinks of losing weight, when he finds out that that t-shirt that he liked doesn’t fit.

The smaller t-shirt will make him think out his weight. And that’s likely to hint and encourage weight loss, while it subtly reinforces Virgin Active’s brand message.

If the overweight person doesn’t keep the t-shirt for their ideal slimmer self; they’re likely to give it to someone that they’re sure the t-shirt will fit. And Virgin Active won’t really be losing a prospect, they’ll actually be gaining one more billboard on legs.

(By accommodating plus-sized people in their promotional T-shirts, what Virgin Active is doing is like a “Quit Smoking” brand giving smokers free lighters.)




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— September 20, 2010.