A sub-franchise of Gold's Gym in Egypt has been called out for posting a body-shaming picture on its Facebook account. It shared an image of pear with the comment, "This is no shape for a girl."
As expected, it didn't go down well with people.
. @GoldsGym , that's a fucking pear. Not a young girl being influenced by dumb ad campaigns like this one. #shameful
People described the picture as "disgusting".
Why is a gym using 'this is no shape for a girl' as a marketing angle? Disgusting.
While others described it as the "worst" advert.
@Bookgirl96 That is the WORST ad
One user made artwork in response to the Facebook post.
And a few people have posted pictures of themselves as a response.
Me on the left. At 108lbs. Pear shaped. "No shape for a girl." #gfy @GoldsGym .
“Body shaming is for dicks,” one Twitter user said.
Hi @GoldsGym, I'm pear shaped and HELLA PROUD. Body shaming is for dicks. ALL bodies are beautiful! 🍐🍐🍐
The original Facebook post was deleted as complaints grew. On Tuesday, the sub-franchise, called Gold's Gym Dreamland, issued an apology.
In broken English, the firm said in a statement: "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."
They added: "So Again our Apology. for all the women out there."
Despite this, people were still unhappy with the company's other posts.
It was met with great responses like this:
Following the controversy surrounding Gold's Gym Dreamland's Facebook posts, Gold's Gym, a US-based chain of international fitness centres, issued its own statement on Facebook on Tuesday. The company said it was now in the process of terminating its partnership with its sub-franchise and had worked with Facebook to get the page removed.
It wrote: "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 on behalf of Gold Gym Dreamland.
The firm said: "We are appalled by the message they have sent to women around the world and have requested that Facebook remove their profile. We have also proceeded with legal action.
"Gold's Gym Egypt was built on values that would only encourage men, women, and children alike to love themselves proudly, regardless of their weight or physical appearance ... We are proud of all of our members regardless of age, gender, or fitness level!"