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Fitness First Advertisement at Bus Stop Includes a Scale

Bus Stop Scale: Cool or Not?

March 17, 2009

Call it weight-ing for the bus. In the Netherlands, a gym chain called Fitness First has installed a bus-stop ad complete with a bench that's been converted into a weight scale. Sit on the seat, and the digital readout displays your weight. Kind of like that scale we saw combined with a toilet seat, except this one is in public for all the world to see. Check out the video below and tell me, what do you think? Cheeky? Helpful? Totally inappropriate?

22 Comments

CanadianAlissa 3 years 48 weeks

i don't think embarassing people is a good way to encourage healthy eating or fitness

darc5204 4 years 9 weeks

It's just a gimmick and definitely not a big deal. If you're afraid to broadcast your weight, you'll sit elsewhere!

delightfairy 4 years 9 weeks

Oh my... lol I love her reaction! I agree with some posts above that it's a great marketing trick :D

mod16 4 years 9 weeks

no way jose! although it may help some people get motivated to workout if they are at an unhealthy weight

Spectra 4 years 9 weeks

It's not exactly a new idea. They've had scales in the bathrooms at the mall for at least 20 years. I remember my sister and I begging my mom to let us have a quarter to see if we could make the scale go over 100 lbs if we stood on it together (this was back when we were kids, mind you). So it's not like they're the most inventive idea ever.

lindssaurussss 4 years 9 weeks

thats dumb. besides its not an accurate weight with clothes on or after eating

crazylovevbug 4 years 9 weeks

no way! how awful. it goes to show you how obsessed people have gotten with a number. also, what about all the people with eating disorders? i think it's just helping those people get sicker.

sjc5692 4 years 9 weeks

that's so wrong!

soapbox 4 years 9 weeks

Totally agree, great marketing. I dunno, I find it kind of amusing. If you don't want people to know your weight, don't sit. It's simple!

anna_muffin 4 years 9 weeks

I agree with michlny, as an ad, it's really cool.

michlny 4 years 9 weeks

You can think what you like but it is marketing genius. The publicity, the attention and innovative idea - brilliant. No one says you need to sit on the bench. People should have a sense of humor about it....

teegaall 4 years 9 weeks

You know the person who came up with that idea had to be a man. :P

jessolicious 4 years 9 weeks

i hate scales in general, so of course i think this is very uncool.

bella85 4 years 9 weeks

Fitness First is a chain that has its gyms all over Europe. I have a Fitness First membership and I love it there, it's great. But the public scale is nasty! Not cool!

kia 4 years 9 weeks

I am not a fan of public scales. When I lived in Miami the Publix supermarkets had free scales. I was not a fan, but a lot of people used them entering and exiting the market. Bravo to them.

bengalspice 4 years 9 weeks

looks cool to me

lostandfound 4 years 9 weeks

This is way out of line.

wmoonw 4 years 9 weeks

Then again, I'm sure that half of the motivation for the scale bus station was that people would be outraged and talk about it online, so I guess there's some good motivation for doing it their way.

wmoonw 4 years 9 weeks

Thanks, but no thanks; I'm not comfortable enough with the number on the scale to want to display it all over the street. If they're going to to drop tons of money building stupid machines into benches, why not advertise by building in a piece of fitness equipment? "Hey, rowing is kind of fun, maybe I should join this gym!" seems like a better way to advertise.