Peloton Holiday ad sparks criticism

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her strange forced smile was the issue. Felt like an ad for a cult with unwilling members.

Exactly. She didn't look like she was excited to receive a Peloton as a gift. She looked like she was scared, and surely that's not the reaction most gift givers are looking for when they decide to buy an expensive present for someone! Based on that advert, if I were thinking of surprising someone with a Peloton it would make me think again about whether the recipient really wants it! Which probably is important to think about anyway, but a good ad shouldn't make you more worried about buying it.

You're reading that into the ad, probably because you don't like Peloton to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd be curious as to whether people who own Pelotons thought the ad was SO FREAKING TRIGGERING.

I'm guessing not.

They feel attacked, as witnessed by the responses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her strange forced smile was the issue. Felt like an ad for a cult with unwilling members.

Exactly. She didn't look like she was excited to receive a Peloton as a gift. She looked like she was scared, and surely that's not the reaction most gift givers are looking for when they decide to buy an expensive present for someone! Based on that advert, if I were thinking of surprising someone with a Peloton it would make me think again about whether the recipient really wants it! Which probably is important to think about anyway, but a good ad shouldn't make you more worried about buying it.

+1 - her fear was really bizarre

It also seemed like she was being held hostage in that beautiful, remote house

This is nothing against Peloton users, who I am sure are perfectly well adjusted people! If this thread has taught me anything it's that Peloton users are very well adjusted indeed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd be curious as to whether people who own Pelotons thought the ad was SO FREAKING TRIGGERING.

I'm guessing not.

They feel attacked, as witnessed by the responses.

Well, we've been called members of an unwilling cult, so ... yeah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her strange forced smile was the issue. Felt like an ad for a cult with unwilling members.

Exactly. She didn't look like she was excited to receive a Peloton as a gift. She looked like she was scared, and surely that's not the reaction most gift givers are looking for when they decide to buy an expensive present for someone! Based on that advert, if I were thinking of surprising someone with a Peloton it would make me think again about whether the recipient really wants it! Which probably is important to think about anyway, but a good ad shouldn't make you more worried about buying it.

+1 - her fear was really bizarre

It also seemed like she was being held hostage in that beautiful, remote house

This is nothing against Peloton users, who I am sure are perfectly well adjusted people! If this thread has taught me anything it's that Peloton users are very well adjusted indeed!

Held hostage? WTAF?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a luxury fitnesss brand...did they think it was going to be a bunch of chubby people touting Jenny Craig microwavable meals? Like wtf. It's a dumb commercial but I don't get why people think a brand that's aspiration based - people buying a Peloton aspire to be thin - should use overweight people.

Bc she was already very thin. Her aspiration to be even thinner is what has people bashing the ad.

The ad didn't say one word about being thin. Not one. It didn't mention weight once. Everyone complaining about "aspiration to be thinner" is projecting their own feelings onto that fictional woman.

Ok well this was an explanation based on comments from people viewing the ad. You saw what you wanted and so did others.

Not really, no. I viewed the ad, and reported what was actually in it - the actual words used. As I said, no mention of weight or size. That's not seeing what I want, it's a factual description of what was in the ad.

The people who think this is about her wanting to be thinner, on the other hand, did see what they want - or what they fear, I guess.

Well then please go share your thoughts with the many people on Twitter who explain what they dislike about the ad. I’m sure your thoughts will be well received.

No thanks. I have a hard enough time explaining things to the dimwitted on DCUM - I know better than to try that on Twitter.

And in case you were wondering, yes, I am referring to you.

Well now you've convinced me that Peloton made a totally normal ad for their exercise bike

Yep. At this point, the only criticism I'm really reading is "why did she videotape herself? why did she put her bike there? why was she nervous getting on it?"

All of that is pointless criticism that has nothing to do with the bike itself.

The ad is clearly supposed to make us feel like we are going along with this woman on her journey from weirdly anxious (about an exercise bike?) to determined Peloton cyclist, to newly confident with her year of achievement. We are supposed to see ourselves in her - and that means that we're supposed to see the bike in our house. It makes sense that since this is the journey the Peloton people are trying to take us on, that we'd notice where they get details wrong or where the ad seems to fail in its intention. It's just a weird ad, in some ways that are easy to describe - WHY IS SHE SO NERVOUS - and in others that are more inchoate but are obviously three since so many people are noticing the ad's strangeness.

It's cool you don't see it and are so valiant in your defense of the ad. I'm sure a year from now you'll be confident too! Just be sure to put the Peloton by the front door so if you decide you don't want to do it anymore you can run out into the snow.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her strange forced smile was the issue. Felt like an ad for a cult with unwilling members.

Exactly. She didn't look like she was excited to receive a Peloton as a gift. She looked like she was scared, and surely that's not the reaction most gift givers are looking for when they decide to buy an expensive present for someone! Based on that advert, if I were thinking of surprising someone with a Peloton it would make me think again about whether the recipient really wants it! Which probably is important to think about anyway, but a good ad shouldn't make you more worried about buying it.

You're reading that into the ad, probably because you don't like Peloton to begin with.

I'm really not. I do like Peloton, I have had one for 2 years and ride nearly every day. I just think this was a bad ad.

[Anonymous]

I've owned a peloton for 4 years and still ride almost everyday. I think most of their ads are weird, this one too. They need to hire the Martin Agency (who does those great Geico ads).

Peloton once had a ad to Sia's song the Greatest (don't give up, won't give up, no no no). She wrote that song in response to the Orlando gay nightclub shooting, the video is also about it. And then Peloton used the song, emphasizing the lyrics, in an ad to try and motivate you to exercise. Just bizarre.

[Anonymous]

The ad is hilarious and frightening at the same time, which is its genius. It is foolish, of course, to read too much into this woman's life - the entire ad is, well, an ad. Every glance, every smile, every pause has been placed with intention.

The HuffPost article and the defensive responses of some Pelaton owners are all part of the scene that make it so enjoyable. Pelaton saw a tired market segment (home fitness machines) and turned it into a money-making machine. ($2k plus just to get started. Yoy) We call that capitalism in the country that I came from.

In this Pelaton home, the wife returns the favor by giving her hubby a Lexus December to remember because that's what the ad copy requires. Cue the outrage, raise up the guillotines, march for universal healthcare and all that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her strange forced smile was the issue. Felt like an ad for a cult with unwilling members.

Exactly. She didn't look like she was excited to receive a Peloton as a gift. She looked like she was scared, and surely that's not the reaction most gift givers are looking for when they decide to buy an expensive present for someone! Based on that advert, if I were thinking of surprising someone with a Peloton it would make me think again about whether the recipient really wants it! Which probably is important to think about anyway, but a good ad shouldn't make you more worried about buying it.

You're reading that into the ad, probably because you don't like Peloton to begin with.

Reading into it would be her attempt to convert her husband at the end. The portrayal was off.

[Anonymous]

Well, the ad is kind of dumb— but I still hope my DH will get me a Peloton for Christmas.

[Anonymous]

The ad was dumb. Yes, exercise is about more than weight. But, you're not selling me by showing a gorgeous, young, thin woman anxious over an exercise bike? And at the end, she's still young, thin, and gorgeous.

I generally find Peloton ads stupid (and I have a bike). The first time I got on mine, I giggled to myself when I started peddling and my room didn't suddenly sprout floor to ceiling windows overlooking the sun rising over a beach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its a bad ad if they are unable to convey the message they want then.
If they wanted the focus on MENTAL health, they could have easily thrown that in there. perhaps the wife says it is hard to get out of bed during the first few sessions, mention not enjoying things she used to. Then in the end show her happy adn talking about feeling refreshed and like herself again.

Anything other than a husband getting a 120lb woman an exercise bike and then that same woman saying she wants to make him proud by not giving up? WTF

She’s meant to be something of a blank slate so that people can project their own desires/goals onto her, whether it’s to treat anxiety, lose weight, have a daily activity that’s just for them, improve their cardiac health, etc. Instead, some people are projecting their own body image issues, which is fine, but those people probably were never going to buy Pelotons anyway so who cares?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the problem with the ad is that the people in it are weird, not that she's already thin. I think Peloton were right to show that it's not just a weight loss machine but also helps to lead a healthier lifestyle, but it was really strange that the woman seemed so anxious about her bike, and then took all those selfies and then filmed herself doing all her rides, and then at the end showed the movie to her husband. There are plenty of cult-like Peloton owners (I'm probably one of them!) who would take selfies and make movies but I'm not sure that this works as a selling point if you don't yet have one, it just looks bizarre and it does look like she was forced into riding it to please her husband and then made a movie to prove she'd done it.

Yah - it's this. The woman being super skinny to start is something my (overweight) husband noticed and commented on, but that part didn't bother me - exercise isn't all about weight loss. What was weird is how *anxious* she was - what was she so anxious about? She was scared to ride an exercise bike? Or something else? Also where in the house is that bike - right in the front by the door? Isn't that a strange place to put it? And why is she filming herself riding the bike?

They're just *off* - like aliens who are trying to seem human but aren't quite getting it right.

You’re right. The filming of the self, the video diary, then watching it at the end of the year were weird.

Do you have nothing better to do than to nitpick this ad?

np do you have nothing better to do than comment on someone's opinion? What's the difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a luxury fitnesss brand...did they think it was going to be a bunch of chubby people touting Jenny Craig microwavable meals? Like wtf. It's a dumb commercial but I don't get why people think a brand that's aspiration based - people buying a Peloton aspire to be thin - should use overweight people.

Bc she was already very thin. Her aspiration to be even thinner is what has people bashing the ad.

The ad didn't say one word about being thin. Not one. It didn't mention weight once. Everyone complaining about "aspiration to be thinner" is projecting their own feelings onto that fictional woman.

Ok well this was an explanation based on comments from people viewing the ad. You saw what you wanted and so did others.

Not really, no. I viewed the ad, and reported what was actually in it - the actual words used. As I said, no mention of weight or size. That's not seeing what I want, it's a factual description of what was in the ad.

The people who think this is about her wanting to be thinner, on the other hand, did see what they want - or what they fear, I guess.

Well then please go share your thoughts with the many people on Twitter who explain what they dislike about the ad. I’m sure your thoughts will be well received.

No thanks. I have a hard enough time explaining things to the dimwitted on DCUM - I know better than to try that on Twitter.

And in case you were wondering, yes, I am referring to you.

You didn’t explain anything to me but did show how you aren’t ready to step outside your comfort zone. I’m not vicious and have no desire to drag you the way Twitter would. So you are smart to stay in your safe space. You are amongst your bubble here.

Your time would be better spent trying to lose the weight you apparently think you need to.