'They'll take the FAT ones first' Giant alien-themed gym ad sparks outrage

A GYM billboard poster telling the world that aliens will "take the fat ones first" has provoked outrage in a Midlands town.

CONTROVERSIAL: The alien-themed giant advert is causing a stir

The 20ft-high poster was plastered up to advertise Fit4Less on the side of a Co-operative store beside a busy road.

It shows an animated green alien and a person being beamed up into space by a glowing UFO.

It also says "Save yourself!" beside an arrow pointing to the gym's website.

Natalie Harvey, 39, founder of Nottinghamshire charity Combat Bullying, spotted the advert and accused the gym of "fat-shaming".

we defo need to tackle obesity but let's do it with support & encouragement & not poking fun and body shaming!pic.twitter.com/UIdhzw0hQK

— Natalie Harvey (@natharvey77) April 3, 2016

"I feel campaigns like this aid bullying," said the mum-of-two from Long Eaton, Derbys, who is also a member of an anti-bullying all-parliamentary group.

"I couldn't believe it when I saw it.

"It's 2016, this sort of fat-shaming humour is offensive.

"I first spotted it on Tuesday and I thought 'I can't just keep driving past', we have a responsibility to say something.

"Children are so fragile, it just doesn't sit well with me.

"If those children or the perpetrators saw this poster it would cause further harm for the children who are being bullied.

Bosses at the Co-operative food shop also said they had asked for the advert to be removed from the side of their store.

Jan Spaticchia, the chief executive of Fit4Less parent company Energie Group, yesterday shrugged off criticism and said the advert was "harmless fun".

He said: "The aliens campaign is actually very successful.

"We aim to get people talking and promote the notion of a healthy lifestyle.

"We don't take ourselves too seriously. I'm a 45-year-old man who is 17.5 stone and proud of it but I'm healthy with it.

"There is such a thing as being overweight and healthy, not everyone has to be skinny.

"We certainly didn't mean to cause offence and we care about the relationships that we build with the communities that we serve.

"We also believe however that if we are going to reach more people as a sector then we need to stop taking ourselves so seriously and realise that if we want to attract normal people, then we need to be willing to poke fun at ourselves and our messaging is designed to do exactly that."

Mr Spaticchia also refused to take the poster down but the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said anyone with concerns should complain to them

An ASA spokesman said: "Where the rules have been broken we will not hesitate to take action and have it removed."

The news follows controversies surrounding a Tesco crisp advert in which a boss slaps a housemaid.

DISMISSIVE: A boss of Fit4Less, whose gym is pictured in Long Eaton, Notts, said it was 'fun'

"The poster should be removed and replaced with something more tasteful to attract the gym goers."

The advert in Tamworth Road in Sawley, Derbys, is still up.

Lorry driver Gary Turner, 44, who lives in Sawley, added: "I've always been a big chap and I am quite comfortable with my size.

"But when I saw that giant poster it did make me feel a bit self-conscious.

"It is just embarrassing that a big company like that has to resort to the kind of childish bullying humour you would get in a playground.

"It is a classic example of fat-shaming, they have even put the word fat in big pink capital letters, it just isn't on."