What do you get when you combine bitcoin, boxing and CBD-infused cocktails? Pitbull and Tony Robbins latest venture, apparently.
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Described as “sweat and smiles and a 50 minute boxing high,” GRIT BXNG is a gym-slash-bar opening this month in New York’s Union Square. As well as “powerful boxing sequences,” music and lighting which “takes the vibe to the next level,” and “low impact water-filled” aquabags (which sound terrifying), GRIT BXNG offers a full-service liquor bar.
According to The Cut, you can indulge in “low calorie workout beer,” “Cucumber Kale Juice with Pitbull’s Voli Vodka,” “CBD-Infused martinis,” and “Dr. Mushroom’s Gazpacho Soup with CBD,” which sounds like it could make me paranoid, puke, or both.
Apparently, GRIT BXNG is located in what is being referred to as ‘Silcon Alley’ with the offices of Facebook, Twitter and Buzzfeed close by. Naturally, this means the gym accepts payment in bitcoin.
“We are big believers in bitcoin,” co-founder Bill Zanker told the New York Post. “We are planning to keep any bitcoin that comes in as we see it as a long time big opportunity.”
Reps also told the New York Post that “more than $1 million” was invested in sound and light, trainers “can earn $1,000 an hour on a pay scale,” but membership remains “on par” with other NYC fitness studios at “only” $36 per class.
Is it just me, or is this whole thing giving you major Fyre Festival vibes?
Absolutely no shade, but all these extravagant 2K19 vibes, plus the hefty investments and “low” membership prices sound a bit like the beginnings of the PR nightmare that was 2017’s Fyre Festival.
ICYMI, Fyre was supposed to be a “luxury music festival” located in The Bahamas which was heavily promoted by social media influencers and promised high-paying punters fancy villas, gourmet food, VIP experiences and musical acts like Blink-182, Migos, Tyga and more.
The whole thing ended up being a huge disaster when festivalgoers arrived and were met with disaster relief tents, soaking wet mattresses, no lighting or cell phone reception, portable toilets, no running water, and dodgy looking sandwiches for dinner. Oh, and zero music acts.
Fyre resulted in millions of dollars worth of damages and landed founder Billy McFarland in jail for six years.
I’m definitely not expecting this for the crew behind GRIT BXNG, but if Fyre taught us anything it’s that your product has to live up to the promise and the hype, or people will talk.