Rest at Your Own Risk: Moscow Benches to Publicly Display Sitters’ Weight

In a bid to raise fitness consciousness, Moscow’s authorities have decided to replace ordinary park benches with high-tech scales. The change, which will affect the city’s most popular parks, is being sponsored by gyms that are hoping to attract more weight-obsessed clients.

A similar campaign is already in place at a public bus stop in the Netherlands, where benches are attached to large electronic panels that display the seated person’s weight in kilograms. The panels also feature nutrition-related information and gym advertisements.

One of the first parks in Moscow to embrace the change is the northern Sokolniki Park – director Andrei Lapshin said that 20 weighing benches could be placed there by the end of the year.

scale-bench

Moscow’s media and advertising head Vladimir Chernikov supported the ambitious project by saying that he’s for ‘everything progressive and interesting’. He hinted that the high-tech benches would also be wired with electricity for phone-charging stations. This feature comes at an additional cost of 50,000 rubles ($1,300) per bench, which will be covered by advertising.

It will be quite interesting to see how Muscovites react to these new benches. Personally, I’d avoid them like the plague. After a relaxing stroll at the park, the last thing I’d want is to sit on a weighing scale that spills my secrets for the world to see!

Source: The Moscow Times

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