Cereal giant Kellogg has switched the 'K girl' in a red swimsuit in its latest Special K television advert in the UK for what it claims are "real women".
Kellogg has said it is using plus-sized women in its advertising for the first time in a bid to "encourage a more positive attitude to bigger body sizes".
The famous K girl in a red swimsuit is noticeably absent in the cereal brand's latest TV advert and has been replaced by a group of women with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of up to 29.
THE SPECIAL K GIRL GETS A REAL WOMAN MAKEOVER
- Slimming brand ditches famous model icon in red for plus sized "real women" in latest TV ad
SLIMMING brand Special K is using plus sized "real women" in its advertising for the first time to encourage a more positive attitude to bigger body sizes.
The famous K girl in a red swimsuit is noticeably absent in the cereal brand's latest TV advert and has been replaced by a group of real women with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of up to 29.
BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adults, healthy weight is classed as a BMI of between 18.5 and 24.9 and overweight as between 25 and 29.9.
The move is to support Special K's new campaign to encourage women to think about some of the other positives they will gain when they lose weight, rather than just focusing on what they look like or what size they are.
A spokesperson from Special K said: "We want to encourage a responsible attitude when it comes to body image and to show that losing weight isn't just about the way you look or a certain size you need to conform to, but more importantly about the way it makes you feel. The fact that we are using real women for the first time of a variety of shapes and sizes is the perfect way to encourage women to think differently about losing weight and not just focus on the numbers on the bathroom scales.
"The Special K girl will still be used in other advertising as she is a long standing icon of our brand but we still insist she has a BMI of at least 21, as we only want to use healthy body images."
Special K's "What will you Gain when you Lose" campaign shows real women stepping on a giant set of scales in Covent Garden expecting to be weighed but instead of their weight flashing up they receive an inspiring word such as "amazing" instead.
Katie McNeil*, a mum of two, from Camberley Surrey has a BMI of 29 and was picked off the street to feature in the advert.
She said: "It was really exciting to be asked to feature in this latest Special K ad - especially as it was totally unexpected as I was out shopping! I think it's really inspiring to see more realistic women and body sizes instead of size 8 models all the time in advertising, which is why I was delighted to take part. Losing weight for me is about feeling great whatever size or weight I am and this campaign sums that up perfectly."
