Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Peloton may have the last laugh.


When the controversy broke out about the Peloton ad, Sarah Mahoney of mediapost.com noted that her first impression upon seeing the commercial was that it was unlikely to be successful. (Mahoney, 2019)

I realized belatedly that I too had seen it, but not remembered it because 1) I am not in the market for an exercise bike and 2) the ad was meh.

So it may just turn out to be a stroke of good luck that Peloton got a much needed PR boost from people who are unlikely to ever be users of their product.  And what a boost it is.  Eva Victor's parody of the commercial on Twitter has over 3 million views.  (Ortiz, 2019)

Then Ryan Reynolds put his own twist on it for Aviation America Gin.  And just how much do you think that mention on Saturday Night Live was worth?  (Hsu, 2019)

In one of the many articles written about Peloton since the controversy erupted, I read something interesting, which sadly I cannot attribute, but will paraphrase and share anyway.  "My Twitter friends are outraged.  My Facebook friends have no idea what's going on. And my Instagram friends all want a bike." 

Yeah.  That sounds just about right to me. 


Mahoney, S. (2019, December 8)  What The Peloton Backlash Says About the D2C Universe.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved December 18, 2019, from

Ortiz, A. (2019, December 3)  Peloton Ad Is Criticized as Sexist and Dystopian.  nytimes.com.  Retrieved December 18, 2019, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/business/peloton-bike-ad-stock.html

Hsu, T. (2019, December 9)  Peloton's Cringe-y Ad Got Everyone Talking. Its C.E.O. Is Silent. nytimes.com.  Retrieved December 18, 2019 from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/09/business/media/peloton-ad-ryan-reynolds.html

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