Weight Watchers was forced to respond to the backlash – it hasn't pulled the campaign but Weight Watchers' senior marketing manager, Rebecca Melville, conceded it could cause offence.
Ms. Mednick also said the campaign's weight loss theme was relevant to many Americans.
THE previous campaign for Weight Watchers featured a furry critter that tempted dieters with high-calorie foods.
"We wanted it to be a campaign of weight, like when record companies had the confidence that they had a big, big, record," Columbia Records' chief executive, Rob Stringer, recently told Billboard magazine.
Voters canvassed by its recent focus groups in Scotland have also found heavy support for a fast EU referendum campaign, lending weight to the idea that David Cameron will call the referendum for 23 June this year.
He has run a strong pre-campaign, lost weight, and displayed both a sense of humour and a political seriousness.
Such campaigns carry weight while most Britons are still making up their minds about the industry.
Furthermore, the narrow focus of public health campaigns on weight loss rather than improvements in health may encourage individuals to adopt unsustainable weight loss diets or reinforce discrimination against them.
Is that not like campaigning with weights around your ankles?
Scores of millions of dollars are spent on campaigns for weight-loss plans, diet pills, low-calorie foods, gyms and fitness centers, smoking-cessation drugs and exercise equipment.
