Model and publishing heiress Lydia Hearst, of the famed Hearst empire, is courting controversy by posing topless for a new gym advertisement while pretending to breastfeed twins.
Hearst, 31, who is engaged to comedian Chris Hardwick, does not have kids. |
| Lydia Hearst's controversial advertisement for Equinox gym has become a highly contentious topic on social media, as people passionately argue on both sides of the public breastfeeding debate. / Equinox Facebook |
Table for one. Dinner for three. #CommitToSomethingThe promo, one of a variety shot by renowned photographer Steven Klein, features the company's slogan, "Commit to Something", slapped across the image.
Posted by Equinox on Tuesday, January 5, 2016
It ran the tagline: “Table for one. Dinner for three”.
It’s one of seven images in the new campaign, selling the idea of commitment — not just to fitness but to anything in life.
Other photos show a screaming feminist activist (portrayed by Bianca Bree, daughter of Jean-Claude Van Damme), a male cheerleader posing with trophies (featuring MMA fighter Alan Jouban), and a woman drinking coffee in her kitchen, surrounded by more than a dozen hairless Sphynx cats.
However, the controversial commercial has drawn mixed reactions from people online.
One commentator wrote on the company’s Facebook page: “Sorry, but this ad is ridiculous. Breastfeed (or not) if you want, but what does this image have to do with going to the gym? And if you're attending what, from this picture, looks like a clearly fancy restaurant, it's inappropriate and disrespectful to other patrons to breastfeed AT the table. There's a time and a place for everything.
Equinox replied, “Try explaining that to an infant.”
Other naysayers called it “absurd,” “ridiculous,” and “distasteful.”
“What does this have to do with your gym? I’m canceling my membership,” sniped one woman on Equinox’s Facebook page, where the image was posted on Tuesday.
Since then, the post has been shared more than 2,167 times, liked more than 6,539, and elicited more than 1,000 comments.
But breastfeeding advocates have welcomed the ad, with many applauding the concept, including officials at the La Leche League of New York.
"My initial reaction is, 'Great, let's normalise breastfeeding'," representative Leigh Anne O'Connor told FOX411.
"Of course, the image more glamorises the situation but I don't have a problem with that because breast feeding is an everyday thing that is done at home in pyjamas, out at weddings or movie theatres or restaurants, both fancy and low key."
"I do not believe the breast is sexually used here," she adds. "When critics call it disgusting to breastfeed in public or in ads, I say that is a personal issue with the critics; they are uncomfortable with their own bodies and are projecting their feelings on others."
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