Wieden+Kennedy's provocative Commit to Something campaign for Equinox

“Commit to Something” is the latest campaign by Wieden+Kennedy New York for luxury fitness brand Equinox. Shot by fashion photographer Steven Klein, the seven images display “the powerful, conscious human expression of commitment.”

Shot over three days in Los Angeles the images reflect socially relevant issues such as activism, sexuality, lifestyle choices and women’s rights. The models included Lydia Hearst, Bianca Van Damme and MMA fighter Malan Jouban. “It is the responsibility of advertising to communicate modern times and social issues. This campaign addresses today’s issues and social commentaries, which is a powerful approach instead of portraying people as superficial objects with no narrative,” says the photographer.

Sean Mclaughlin, creative director at Wieden+Kennedy was keen that the campaign expressed the idea of commitment beyond the gym. “Equinox members live commitment. These are people who tend to be at the top of their industries. Inside the gym they are every bit as passionate,” he says “The problem is, the idea of committing to a workout isn’t a particularly sticky idea. What made commitment interesting, to us anyway, was taking the campaign out of the context of a gym. When it’s more about life than just working out, ‘commit to something’ takes on a different vibe.”

From this starting point, the team wanted to push the concept further. “Commitment is not just one thing. It takes shape in different ways for different people,” says Sean. “Committing to a cause. Committing to a belief. Committing to pursuing the almighty dollar. Or even committing to multiple sex partners. The more we stretched the definition, the more interesting the campaign got.”