This Toilet Seat Will Stop Your Bulimia
Posted by: Susannah Breslin | Filed in: News & Culture
11:00AM, Wednesday January 07th 2009
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Adfreak Copyranter points to this anti-bulimia ad campaign in Europe that employs toilet lid stickers to stop girls from purging themselves. In Düsseldorf, Germany, ad firm red cell created the hot pink and blood splatter stickers posted on toilets in local college women’s bathrooms and bars. They read “Bulimie ist heilbar,” or “Bulimia is curable,” and include contact information for the ProMädchen, or “ProGirl,” organization. Copyranter muses: “I’m thinking these lovely labels may have actually put an until-then dormant purge urge in some of the young ladies’ minds.” The F-Word opines: “I think this is a clever and effective way to specifically target those who need help the most.” What do you think? Do toilet lid stickers help fight eating disorders, or does this campaign give young woman an incentive to puke? [ANIMAL]
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joyy
[report]wrote on January 07 2009 @ 01:55 pm:
I think that’s a really creative way to raise awareness and try to reach out to girls with bulimia. I was on the ASU campus a while ago and they had signs on the inside of the stall door encouraging you to do self-breast exams regularly and had simple instructions on how to do so.
I hate to see advertising creep into every area of our lives (am I the only one whose stomach is turned by the tvs place on top of gas pumps??), but I’m kind of a public health nerd, so I love seeing clever little things like this pop up. After all, everyone has to use the bathroom at some point, right?
As for whether it helps fight or encourages bulimia, that sounds eerily like the argument that comprehensive sex ed results in higher rates of teen sex or that needle exchange programs increase drug use - things strongly proven wrong by the data.
ClatieK
[report]wrote on January 07 2009 @ 03:16 pm:
I think this is great. It’s not telling women, “don’t puke here” or something else that will just piss people off. It’s simply stating that the disorder is curable, which is a perfect note to sound to a person who, if purging in a public bathroom, is likely feeling somewhat hopeless at that particular moment.
racethesun19
[report]wrote on January 07 2009 @ 10:05 pm:
I’m a recovering bulimic. This is not to say I speak for all other people suffering from this, but here’s my piece… This is walking a thin line between helpful and hurtful. You never know what might trigger a binge/purge, and I could see this making me feel worse about myself. If it was just a simple text sticker, that might be better. The graphic nature of it would be enough to put me into a tailspin because I would feel mocked, like being kicked at the very worst moment of my life, “hey, this is curable, and you’re obviously not cured.” I am least likely to believe anyone or anything that, while I’m feeling most ugly and worthless, says I can be cured. There are far more appropriate places to post this type of message.
That said, eating disorders are very serious physical diseases and should be publicly acknowledged and addressed. However, they are also associated with equally serious mental issues, and that alone should make anyone cautious about how and where they depict their message.