That is just awful and humiliating to the transit user. It would probably also break privacy laws in Australia by having your personal information broadcasted to the whole wide world on how fat you are. It is also not actually a professional health assessment- you could be 68 kg and healthy or not.
Also, her bag is included in the advertised weight, as the bag is on the bench. She looks a little lighter than 68 kg to me. This is disgusting and personal and should not be allowed. Talk about a transit agency alienating its users. And what for? Are they really earning more money with this ad than others by poking their own users in the eye? Do they hate it that much when people ride transit? It’s like how Translink in Vancouver added ads to monthly passes, for a total revenue of about .5 cents per monthly pass sold. And they ban anyone from modifying their passes, so it’s not like we can cut them off. For what? Half a cent per pass? Get some standards, people.
Hrm, I’d be fine with this if there were somewhere to sit down where my weight wasn’t broadcasted. But since they’ve taken the only bench its a different story. Or, was this shelter bench less before the scale? If so, then kudos for giving a free bench, even if you’ve gotta pay for it by showing your weight.
Andrew S: Technically, it is weight, since a scale only measures the gravitational pull, not the mass. It would need to be a balance for it to be a true measure of mass. That said, kilograms are usually accepted as a measure of weight on the surface of the Earth. I’m surprised by people’s heated reactions to this. I realize one’s weight is personal, but it’s not as though someone can hide whether they are overweight or not.
I agree with Matthew. If you’re fat….everybody around you already knows. Agustin, Tylenol ran a similar campaign in Boston. Something about their medicine and warming up or not getting sick or something….basically, they put heaters in some shelters.
@Matthew: it’s the difference between a fat person sitting on a bench and a fat person sitting on a bench with a giant sign pointing at him or her that reads “HA HA YOU ARE FAT!”
Back in the old days, “penny scales” were often found in various places where people congregate. As I recall, there was one at the Pacific Electric Railway station in Monrovia (Calif., my old home town). People actually paid money to see how much they weighed. Of course, the scales had dials that were more discreet than the digital display in the photo.
The bench looks to be higher than would be standard for a bus shelter – her feet are quite a ways above the ground. Whether it’s a new installation or replacing an existing seat is unclear. As for some of the reactions in the comments above, I think the brilliant British expression ‘po-faced’ sums it up. Lighten up! No one is obliged to sit on that bench, and anyone halfway clever would realise you could perch on it so that some of your weight is on your feet, and you could shift forward until whatever measurement you find flattering is displayed.
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Well, I doubt that she’d be dressed that way if it were 68 °F (20 °C)!
Forgot to add: Must be in continential Europe, as obviously traffic drives on the right, and the unit of measurement is *kilograms*. Cheeky, cheeky.
Is that the weight of whatever’s on the seat (i.e., her)? If so, that looks like an excellent way to get people to not ride transit.
Now that’s just mean.
It’s a scale, the ‘bench’ is the weighing surface. Too funny.
That is just awful and humiliating to the transit user. It would probably also break privacy laws in Australia by having your personal information broadcasted to the whole wide world on how fat you are.
It is also not actually a professional health assessment- you could be 68 kg and healthy or not.
Its not weight, its the mass. Weight would be in Newtons.
Also, her bag is included in the advertised weight, as the bag is on the bench. She looks a little lighter than 68 kg to me.
This is disgusting and personal and should not be allowed. Talk about a transit agency alienating its users. And what for? Are they really earning more money with this ad than others by poking their own users in the eye? Do they hate it that much when people ride transit?
It’s like how Translink in Vancouver added ads to monthly passes, for a total revenue of about .5 cents per monthly pass sold. And they ban anyone from modifying their passes, so it’s not like we can cut them off. For what? Half a cent per pass? Get some standards, people.
Hrm, I’d be fine with this if there were somewhere to sit down where my weight wasn’t broadcasted. But since they’ve taken the only bench its a different story.
Or, was this shelter bench less before the scale? If so, then kudos for giving a free bench, even if you’ve gotta pay for it by showing your weight.
I prefer this one:
http://www.adrants.com/2011/01/caribou-coffee-bus-shelter-oven-warms.php
Effective and functional!
Andrew S: Technically, it is weight, since a scale only measures the gravitational pull, not the mass. It would need to be a balance for it to be a true measure of mass. That said, kilograms are usually accepted as a measure of weight on the surface of the Earth.
I’m surprised by people’s heated reactions to this. I realize one’s weight is personal, but it’s not as though someone can hide whether they are overweight or not.
I agree with Matthew. If you’re fat….everybody around you already knows.
Agustin, Tylenol ran a similar campaign in Boston. Something about their medicine and warming up or not getting sick or something….basically, they put heaters in some shelters.
@Matthew: it’s the difference between a fat person sitting on a bench and a fat person sitting on a bench with a giant sign pointing at him or her that reads “HA HA YOU ARE FAT!”
Back in the old days, “penny scales” were often found in various places where people congregate. As I recall, there was one at the Pacific Electric Railway station in Monrovia (Calif., my old home town). People actually paid money to see how much they weighed. Of course, the scales had dials that were more discreet than the digital display in the photo.
Hmm, if this was in the U.S., I’d be thinking “percentage body fat measurement?”…
The bench looks to be higher than would be standard for a bus shelter – her feet are quite a ways above the ground. Whether it’s a new installation or replacing an existing seat is unclear.
As for some of the reactions in the comments above, I think the brilliant British expression ‘po-faced’ sums it up. Lighten up! No one is obliged to sit on that bench, and anyone halfway clever would realise you could perch on it so that some of your weight is on your feet, and you could shift forward until whatever measurement you find flattering is displayed.