Does Obesity = Suicide?

Check out these pictures.

Now tell me...is it right to equate being obese with killing oneself? Is this a clever ad campaign or an offensive slight to those struggling with depression/suicidal thoughts and their loved ones?

"Obesity is suicide," the tiny-print copy at the bottom reads. "But it doesn't have to end this way. Find out how bariatric surgery can help. The Northern Bariatric Surgery Institute www.cutweight.org" (Note: These ads are not real -- they are part of a budding ad creator's book and the website is a dummy.)

Hanging oneself with sausage links, exploding your insides with butter, OD'ing on chocolate candies...

What's your reaction to these images? Is it ethically right to compare obesity to suicide, a horrific and unimaginable experience for the friends and family left behind? Or can the creator of the ads be forgiven because he's simply doing his job, trying to sell something -- in this case, bariatric surgery -- even if the overall message being delivered is, "If you're overweight, you're as bad as a suicide bomber and should have your stomach reduced to a tiny little pouch"?

Comments

[charon]

There is a truth to obesity being a sort of suicide. Obese people are far more likely to develop heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and kidney failure, than people with lower body fat. Obesity is correlated to a shorter lifespan. The demographic truth is, however, hard to describe with precision as "suicide." It seems a bit overly dramatic, meant to attract attention. More accurately would be to say it puts one at greater risk of pain, suffering, and a shorter lifespan. Not as scary, but more accurate. Can people be frightened into healthier living? I doubt it.
(I just read Idytme's post saying much the same thing as mine, but am posting it anyway since mine makes some different points.)

[singermuse]

Many years ago I read two little paperback books called "Fat is a Feminist Issue" and "Stop The Insanity".
They changed my life permanently for the better. The Diet industry is a multi-BILLION (that's Billion with a "B") dollar industry. But the truth is the more people "diet" the fatter, more unhealthy, more depressed they will be, and they also run the risk of developing eating disorders and thus potentially KILLING THEMSELVES.
It's been said but bears repeating: DIETS DON'T AND NEVER WILL WORK. Period. I learned that I could eat healthfully, ABUNDANTLY, (over 2000 calories a day) exercise MODERATELY (30-35 minutes a day) and be in the best shape of my life. Eating well and exercising daily is not a band-aid and it's not a quick fix but it is a PERMANENT one.

[bigwhitewall]

Obesity and any eating disorder is not a joke or something to be used lightly in comparison to suicide to sell a product. We have many users on our site who struggle with eating issues that are a reflection of deeper emotional health problems. As anti-depressants are often an inadequate response to stress and anxiety so pills are a poor response to eating disorders. It is not difficult to advertise in a socially responsible way - it simply requires imagination - which the producer of this ad evidently lacks. Jenny Hyatt, Founder, bigwhitewall.com

[Idytme]

Since obesity is now in a very close second place to the leading cause of preventable death after smoking, obesity is suicide as much as smoking is suicide. (since obesity also causes heart problems, kidney problems, diabetes, immune system problems and a host of disorders I think it is arguable that it is more harmful than smoking).
Parents who let their kids get obese are just as bad as a parent who puts a cigarette in the mouth of a three year old.
It is parents who get me the most upset, because there is a point in a child's life where they are creating fat cells and being obese in this time period can permanently increase the number of fat cells in your body, thus almost guaranteeing a lifetime of weight problems. This doesn't even include how many teenagers now have type II diabetes and an alarming percentage now have the arteries of a forty year old.

[sugarmoes]

on a deep level... obesity (and many other things that people do to themselves)... is slow suicide.

[jvarga]

On a deep enough level, living is merely slow-suicide.

[bmora]

No, but it sure is delicious.

[toomuchtolose]

In time, global warming might lead to an ice age. Hang on to your fat. This is evolution
at work. The skinnies will freeze to death. The fatties will survive!