New Equinox Ads Go for the Carnivalesque

Has everyone over at Fallon been reading Bahktin? As noted yesterday by FishbowlNY (our sister blog), the Minneapolis-based ad agency has taken a decidedly carnivalesque approach to its new campaign for Equinox fitness centers, recruiting photographer Ellen von Unwerth to shoot Rabelaisian groupings of (presumably) gym-toned hedonists cavorting in Versailles-style settings (wearing a mix of period attire, tiny metallic bikinis, or nothing at all) and nuns sketching a nude man. Each of the print ads features the words “happily ever” in a large script typeface at the bottom of the von Unwerth photo.