With resolutions of fitness goals front and centre on the mind, most health clubs ramp up their advertising and marketing initiatives in January.
Not that we have to tell you that – you probably passed a handful of billboards and posters for the cause on your commute home.
This year, Equinox – the luxury chain of fitness centres that hit Canada not too long ago – is taking a powerful, progressive approach to its New Year marketing initiatives.
Instead of the typical chiseled, glossy “perfect” looking gym-goer, a new ad features Samantha Paige, a 41-year-old thyroid cancer survivor. Rather than getting her sweat on via a pricy treadmill like typical ads for the fitness centre, Paige reveals her double mastectomy scars while she has a flower tattooed on her chest.
After testing positive for the BRCA1 gene – a mutation that increases the risk of breast or ovarian cancer in women – Paige opted to decrease her odds of developing such cancers by having a double mastectomy. She had already survived thyroid cancer.
Photographed by Steven Klein, the new campaign – which uses the hashtag #committosomething – made its debut earlier this week on Instagram.
“We are made by the commitments we make,” reads the Instagram caption. “How can that be anything less than beautiful?”
By committing to parting with her breasts – something that is definitely not without its emotional and physical stress – Paige committed to changing her life for the positive.
“I didn’t want to keep going for MRIs and mammograms every three to six months—it was too unnerving, and the risk seemed too great,” she told People.
While she opted for reconstructive breast implant surgery after the mastectomy, Paige had her implants removed, realizing that certain ideals no longer mattered to her.
“Equinox’s message of ‘Commit to Something’ is about being able to look at yourself in the mirror and realize who you are and stand up to those values. It just dovetails with what I believe in,” she said.
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