A gym owner has defended a controversial billboard poster advertising his business after it was vandalised.
The advert - for the PT Factory in Denton - features text which states: “Tired of being fat & ugly? Now just be ugly!”
Ollie Lawrence, who owns the gym, said the poster was intended as a “light-hearted joke”. Although he has received a handful of complaints since it appeared in Stockport Road earlier this month, he said most people had reacted positively.
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But on Monday morning, Mr Lawrence discovered that someone had hurled several pots of paint at the billboard.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “It was just a light-hearted joke. It wasn’t our intention to offend anybody."
The poster, which advertises gym memberships at the PT Factory, was put up on December 5. Mr Lawrence, who set up the gym 12 years ago, said he hoped the advert would attract attention and “put a smile on people’s faces”.
“I would not have put it up otherwise,” he explained.
“We spoke to a lot of people beforehand and 99pc have seen it for what it is - a joke. We’ve had thousands of comments saying how brilliant it is.
“We have had about eight of nine complaints and unfortunately someone has done what they have done.”
Despite the backlash, Mr Lawrence said he does not regret the wording on the poster.
“There’s nothing malicious in it,” he said. “That’s not who we are as a business.
“We wanted to get a funny line out there to try and get our personality across. How do you do that on a billboard?
"We’re a really friendly gym. The eight people who have complained don’t actually know me as a person.
“I’m a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. I’ve always been in this industry to help people.”
Mr Lawrence branded the actions of those responsible as “a step too far”. Despite the damage, he said he intends to replace the billboard in the New Year.
“The billboard was quite expensive, he said. “That’s the main reason I was upset.
"It's a step too far. There are things I might disagree with but I don’t go vandalising them. I just ignore it and think ‘that business isn’t for me’.”
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