Abstract
The way media presents fat people in ads is the focus of this paper. We analyzed, from the perspective of non-fat individuals the role played by fat people in Brazilian TV commercials. Therefore, there were one focus group with people who have seen advertisements in which the protagonist was a fat guy. There was initially a content analysis of a collection of commercial as well as the content of the discussions in which it was built a map of the social representation of 'being fat' in these messages. The analyzes stressed that these protagonists present themselves in order to provoke laughter through humor. Because of this, stigmas as 'comical', 'weird' and 'weak' are formed from their stereotypes and roles. The question that remains is how far these interpretations may affect the brand image conveyed, considering that the obesity phenomenon is present in everyday life of most consumers.
Key words: Television commercials, fat people, stigma.
