Dubai: Circuit Factory Gym Uses Auschwitz in Ads
Dubai Gym in Trouble over Nazi Camp Ad
Fitness center touts itself as ‘a calorie concentration camp’ before ending the campaign
An attempt by a gym in Dubai to use the image of the Auschwitz concentration camp to goad people into losing weight has drawn the attention sought after by the founder.
Phil Parkinson, the founder and owner of The Circuit Factory in Dubai, quickly apologized for an ad that showed the iconic picture of the entrance of Nazi death camp with a caption that read ‘Kiss your calories goodbye.’ He said the ad, on the gym’s Facebook page, was only visible for a short time before he removed it.
But it was enough to draw a slew of remarks, some full of disgust at the ad’s bad taste, but quite a few supporting the gym and dismissing the criticism.
‘In light of a recent poster that has caused offense - Very sorry for this - Provoking campaign was not offended (sic) to upset people. It’s been removed and deleted,’ Phil Parkinson wrote on his Facebook site.
Parkinson, a 32-year-old British national, said he had removed the ads after just a few hours and had fired his marketing team. Parkinson, who did not return calls from The Media Line, was quoted as saying in The National daily that he used an image of Auschwitz to advertise weight-loss and exercise classes because ‘it’s like a calorie concentration camp.”