---
title: "Adweek: Gold’s Gym Faces PR Crisis After Franchisee Posts Ad Saying a Pear ‘Is No Shape for a Girl’"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/81f3c1c2-d15b-425e-8ab6-5ee21007f383
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/adweek-golds-gym-faces-pr-crisis-after-franchisee-posts-ad-saying-a-pear-is-no-shape-for-a-girl-5534
category: "Restaurants"
industry: "Restaurants"
published: 2016-08-17T16:11:00.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T12:20:41.692Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/e6e79f090acfc5268f42eada70dcef9b1149160817100200.png
---

# Adweek: Gold’s Gym Faces PR Crisis After Franchisee Posts Ad Saying a Pear ‘Is No Shape for a Girl’

**TL;DR:** Gold's Gym is facing a PR crisis after an Egyptian franchisee posted a sexist social media image, prompting a corporate apology and removal efforts. The company has terminated its franchisee agreement with the location behind the ad.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2016-08-17. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/adweek-golds-gym-faces-pr-crisis-after-franchisee-posts-ad-saying-a-pear-is-no-shape-for-a-girl-5534).*

## Story

Gold's Gym is acting quickly today to defuse a PR crisis sparked by an Egyptian franchisee who created a social media post that showed a pear and said "This Is No Shape for a Girl."

While the Egyptian location has apologized for the image, it remains in circulation on social media, with many thinking it's an official marketing image for the gym chain.

This morning, Gold's Gym's official Twitter account has been responding to many of the ad's critics.

The company says the Egyptian location "is ignoring our communications" about removing the image from its social media channels, and the corporate account assures social media users that when it comes to the message of the controversial ad, "we do not agree with their beliefs."

The gym chain has posted a lengthy explanation and apology on Facebook, where the company says it has terminated its franchisee agreement with the location behind the ad.

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- Facebook (company)
- Twitter (company)
- social media (topic)
- Gold's Gym (company)
- franchisee issue (topic)
- pr crisis (topic)
- sexist ad (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/adweek-golds-gym-faces-pr-crisis-after-franchisee-posts-ad-saying-a-pear-is-no-shape-for-a-girl-5534). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/81f3c1c2-d15b-425e-8ab6-5ee21007f383).