Protein World sparked protests with its billboards - now it's launching TV ads

Fitness supplement company Protein World made a lot of people very angry last summer when its billboard advertising campaign, which asked "Are you beach body ready?" was labeled "sexist"and "fat shaming."

Now it has just launched its first TV advert and the similarities are obvious.

The short video features lots of bikini- wearing female models exercising on a beach, with the slogan "New Year, New You," to the soundtrack of house music.

Founder and CEO Ajun Seth announced that the TV campaign will launch in the UK, US, France and Germany in 2016.

The ad is already airing on Channel 5 in the UK, according to Marketing Week, where we first spotted the commercial.

The previous campaign faced a small protest in Hyde Park last summer and more than 71,000 people signed an online petition calling on Protein World to remove its posters. The advert was eventually banned by the UK advertising watchdog due to concerns over " a range of health and weight loss claims". However, the watchdog dismissed claims that the advert was "offensive" or "socially irresponsible."

Ironically, the backlash towards Protein World's Beach Body Ready campaign, was actually very profitable for the company. CEO Seth told the Mail Online that the uproar actually banked the company an extra £2 million in sales.

In June, Protein World brought its billboard campaign to New York, where it was met with similar critcism.

Its unclear whether the TV ads will generate the same coverage, but it has already been called "more sexist than ever" by The Daily Telegraph's Claire Cohen.