One man's faux pas is another man's treasure

Most people and businesses like to start the New Year with a bang, and it was no exception for Equinox, a luxury fitness club, which bulldozed into 2023 with quite an astounding message.

Unsurprisingly, gyms get set to welcome an influx of new customers in January, with 12% of all sign-ups joining in the first month of the year according to the iHRSA, as people start to tackle their New Year’s Resolutions. However, it seemed that Equinox did not require this extra income or in fact want anyone to join their gym in the month of January.

On New Year's Day, the American lifestyle company announced its ‘We Don't Speak January’ campaign, which excluded short-term members and newcomers from joining the gym. This led to backlash on social media, as many criticised the brand's ‘exclusionary’ messaging. 

However, one gym’s faux pas is another gym’s treasure, and without having to spend a penny on a crafty PR campaign of its own, Planet Fitness piggybacked in response. They welcomed those looking to get in shape whenever they feel motivated to do so, even going as far to create a tweet parodying Equinox's original message, stating that their gym is a ‘judgement free zone’ and in fact they ‘Do Speak January’.  Learn more about how to hook off trending topics  and reactive PR, here.

Perhaps one saving grace for Equinox, that has prevented it from receiving even more backlash in the past week, in the UK at least, is the second hand embarrassment felt as Prince Harry keeps revealing cringe-worthy information that nobody asked for.

If you are looking for advice on how to avoid a faux pas and want to create some genius PR that will get your brand spoken about for the right reasons, then please get in touch!