A Little Bit More About the Gym that Photographs It’s Patrons
If you read my post yesterday, you’d know that I was in a fitness class where I was videotaped without giving consent.
I can’t really stop thinking about it, for a number of reasons.
Yes, it’s creepy. The gym in a private place where every wall has signs proclaiming it a camera free place. This is a setting where I’ve paid for my privacy, and I feel strange about losing it. But there’s a larger issue.
The big issue (today) is the fact that I’m in the business of partnering with brands. I do so thoughtfully and rarely in order to preserve the value of those relationships. I price myself quite high, and brands frequently say “no thank you” just as I often decline partnerships. This is all strategic. I have worked my ass off creating a business where my endorsement has value.
By appearing in an exercise video for a branded class at a national gym it would (mistakenly) appear to be an endorsement. That would suck.
Naturally, I’ve heard nothing from the gym today. I really didn’t expect to hear anything except oops, because I clearly wasn’t taken seriously yesterday by anyone in any position. We talk about privacy quite a bit, but what are your rules for other people? Do you get signed consent forms? Do you just take a snippet of video where they say “I agree to be filmed”?
And, yes, for those of you in the comments who were guessing who the celeb trainer is, and which huge fitness chain was involved, you were right. I’m not naming any names, because part of me still wants to see this trainer and his wife succeed. Yes, even though they have gone about things in the wrong manner.
Updated to add: They were on the Today show this week, and a class was filmed at my exact gym, with a film crew, and paperwork and things like that. So no one can say that they didn’t know better. They know better.