Gym under fire for offensive advertisement
A Gold's Gym sub-franchise in Egypt has come under fire for posting an ad on Facebook that people are saying is body shaming.
The image is a photo of a pear with the words "This is no shape for a girl."
People lashed out against the company, Gold's Gym Dreamland, on Twitter, calling the ad "offensive" and "the worst."
An artist responded with artwork of her own:
Others have posted photos of themselves in response.
The post was ultimately deleted, and the sub-franchise issued an apology on Facebook.
"Our apology, this post was not meant to offend anyone, and not against god's creation, or any type of women's body, it was meant to refer to a Healthy Fit body and cutting fats, NOT THE ACTUAL STRUCTURE OF THE BODY."
The apology was not well-received.
The US-based chain Gold's Gym issued its own statement on Facebook, and announced it is in the process of terminating its relationship with the sub-franchise.
"Words cannot express how shocked and appalled we were by the recent posts of Gold's Gym Dreamland, a sub-franchise in Cairo, Egypt. Not only were they offensive and disgusting, they go against everything we believe in and stand for."
They added:
"Upon learning of this sub-franchisee's insensitive posts, we immediately took action by working with Facebook to have their page removed. Also, after consultation with our master franchise in Gold's Gym Egypt, we are in the process of expediting the termination of this sub-franchisee's agreement. This incident only confirms that Gold's Gym Dreamland does not uphold the values and inclusiveness that Gold's Gym promotes throughout our global network. With all of this said, we sincerely apologize for these posts."
Gold's Gym Egypt also issued an apology:
The company will be proceeding with legal action.
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