A well-known gym chain has stepped things up in the fight against influencers by banning the use of tripods. Ugh. Life’s not fair. Now how am I going to watch roided-up dudes who peaked in high school do bench presses with the worst form imaginable now?
Doherty’s Gym, which has locations in Perth, Brunswick, Dandenong and on Melbourne’s famous Flinders Street (you know, the gym between the station and the aquarium?) took to Instagram this week to share the policy change.
“It is our duty of care to provide safety, protection and privacy for all of our members. Tripods have become a trip hazard and a safety concern,” began the post to its 41,000 Instagram followers.
It then advised that “filming on tripods will no longer be permitted at Doherty’s Gyms,” and that as of February 1, anyone wishing to do so would now have to go through a bunch of red tape.
“You may obtain a media pass to film content or your workout for your social media.”
A media pass. What is this? The Olympics?
The post goes on to assert that if you are looking to shoot a “quick video” on your phone, you need to get the consent of anyone who appears in the video’s background.
The comments section is filled with a ~colourful~ selection of comments, both for and against the changes.
“Is this just a way to make an extra couple of bucks by “purchasing a media pass”?” One person wrote.
“Need to send your coach a video of your form? No worries, just purchase a media pass and train during the day while you’re supposed to be at work,” echoed another frustrated customer.
“I hope other gyms follow suit, if a photographer wants to use a studio they pay to hire one or build one. Essentially these people are using a gym as a studio and not paying to hire or build one,” offered a third, more supportive gym-goer.
It will be genuinely interesting to see if other gym chains follow Doherty’s lead and alter their policies.
First Universal Music Group wiped their entire song catalogue from TikTok and now you can’t set up tripods at Doherty’s Gym?
It’s been a bad week for influencers.
Consider our eyes peeled and our biceps curled.
Image credit: AzmanL via iStock.
