Attract new customers without labeling them

I think Adidas did a great job with the selection of this advertisement photo.

Adidas deliberately chose models with slightly fuller figures, breaking the stereotype that only “athletic bodies” are suitable for wearing sportswear.

They even take a step further to embrace a bit of “extra flesh” around the waist.

Normally, this kind of waistline (it even exists on people with athletic bodies) would be retouched effortlessly. But in this case, they didn’t (or only altered it slightly).

This is a clever move because people with “imperfect” bodies are also a significant potential customer base for sportswear.

In the past, they could have shied away or even felt embarrassed when looking at advertisement photos and might hesitate to walk into the store and make a purchase.

Since the brand is sending the “it doesn’t matter” message, the copy serves as an encouragement for this customer segment.

Even better, the copy doesn’t explicitly state that “people with something extra can also wear it” or anything similar. If they did, it would have labeled this customer segment unnecessarily.

By subtly encouraging potential customers and letting them come up with the idea that “this is just the process of getting fit,” Adidas knows how to attract its target audience in full.