http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pShKu2icEYw
Hmmmm.
As regular readers here know, I often criticize TV ads for sending unethical messages or endorsing unethical conduct. I have even been accused of being hypersensitive on the subject. With the controversial Peloton commercial above, I missed it, if there was an it to miss.
The surprising thing is that a lot of the objections to the ad are coming from the Right. If I had bothered to think about the Peloton commercial, I would have perhaps detected that it was sexist, with a critical husband demanding that his already apparent fit and lovely wife get in better shape, and she dutifully complying. Indeed the Left was annoyed: Yashir Ali, who writes for HuffPo and New York Magazine (and you know what THAT means) captured the spirit of the objections:
Another tweeter wrote, “So sweet. My husband was inspired by the Peloton ad to get me a pair of pants in a child’s medium and a handwritten note that says “Don’t fucking touch me till you can fit into these.”
The Right, however, was equally disdainful. Allahpundit wrote,
The weird part is the … eagerness with which she shows her gratitude. It’s lovely to be grateful for an expensive gift, but she’s *really* grateful and *really, really* wants her husband to know it. It’s not just that she feels compelled to record herself using the bike repeatedly over a span of many months. She looks curiously anxious doing it, even when smiling into the camera. At the end of the clip, when she finally shows him the footage, her eyes are trained on his reaction, seemingly desperate for his approval. Is, um… How do I put this? Is everything okay between these two?
Another conservative wag, Steven Kruiser, wrote,
Honestly, after weeks of nothing but impeachment news, Peloton may have just saved America’s collective sanity by letting this be the focus of a post-long-weekend Monday. This fictional frightened woman’s yearlong journey to lose the 14 ounces of water weight that her husband the good Doctor Mengele insists she must is the Christmas miracle that a news-weary world needs.
He headlined his comments on the ad, “Her Eyes Are Blinking “H-E-L-P” in Morse Code.”
Your admittedly not exactly earth-shattering Ethics Alarms Ethics Quiz of the Day is...
Does the Christmas Peloton commercial endorse unethical conduct or societally toxic attitudes?
I’ll add a poll, because I’m curious. Two, in fact:
Ethics Alarms 
I see nothing sexist or problematic in the ad. It’s well written, well acted, and IMO does a good job of showcasing the attributes of the product.
One may criticize Peloton for other reasons (chiefly, that they were using popular music in their training sessions without obtaining clearances and paying the artists for use), but not for this.
And I’ve really gotta wonder about anyone who DOES have a problem with it. What percentage of people, do you think, currently wander around looking for something to be offended by?
”I see nothing sexist or problematic in the ad.”
Perhaps a stint in the Reeducation Gulag is in order?
Anywho, I’m with you; still, First World Problems always give me pause.
Recently furloughed Chicago Police Chief Eddie Johnson could use one with all the EXTRA TIME he’ll have….
1) She reacts excitedly in the commercial not offendedly. Almost like she had been dropping hints for months to her husband (like wives do) about what she wanted for Christmas.
2) Skinny doesn’t mean healthy. I’m “slim” with monstrously high cholesterol (yay genetics). I could use a Peloton.
3) I think the conservative reaction to this derived originally from a pseudo-mockery of the way the Left usually responds to these sorts of things…but then grew into its own thing as the mockers had to double down.
Anyone who has ever exercised and then fallen off the band wagon of exercising and then gets motivated to start up again recognizes the woman’s face immediately. It’s the same combination of dread and regret knowing where you once were and how much work you have to go through AGAIN to get back to where you were.
And that’s precisely Peloton’s target demographic people who don’t want to be bored by their previous attempts at fitness…they are trying to make exercising fun, engaging and incentivized as opposed to the rote and repetitive discipline it usually is.
That’s my reaction. I am slim, and can hide the extra weight that I need to lose, and have been working in fits and starts to get back into regular exercise. I might buy a Peloton if I didn’t already own a Shwinn.
The women isn’t necessarily making the video for her husband, but vlogging (ugly word) like many do. Her nervousness is about the start of her daily workouts (a big commitment), and expressing this concern to her audience (online or wherever). In the end, she shared the video documenting a fairly big personal achievement with her husband.
It is pretty far-fetched to say she is kowtowing to her domineering husband.
The seriously stupid reactions to this commercial are actually increasing my likelihood of buying a peloton.
…but we are perverse in that fashion…
Beyond the fact that there is nothing wrong with the woman’s figure as presented in the commercial?
I don’t see anything wrong with it.
It’s a stationary bike. There is nothing inherently wrong with the ad, aside from bad acting and over-emoting. In areas where snow is an issue, stationary bikes are great alternatives to riding in dangerous conditions. Stationary bikes are low impact exercise tools good for cardio. Fitness freaks love these things – having known distance runners, riders, and swimmers, workouts become addictions. Have you seen the Bow Flex ads? Same thing.
jvb
What if Bowflex showed a commercial of a wife surprising her husband (who in the commercial will be a man who appears to be in shape…has some muscle mass, but no definition…maybe has “dad bod”). A year later he’s proud and happy where he’s gotten in his fitness.
Offensive commercial? Nope. And anyone finding offense would be told to shut up.
Apparently Hide The Pain Harold has a daughter.
It’s just a commercial. It’s a little tone deaf and awkward, but people will be honest about it to themselves while engaging in the low hanging fruit for comedy gold. In this fictional world, we still don’t have the fictional context of this fictional couple’s relationship. Perhaps she’s a clone of his dead wife who was a championship cyclist and she really wants to please her creator by being a perfect replica. Obviously she can’t go outdoors because that would shock the neighbors seeing a dead woman alive again.
Clones have rights too!
Show me where, in the Constitution, it says “Clones have rights” ! You can’t do it! They don’t have rights!
Umbras of engimas of penumbras wrapped in riddles of …
I assumed she was happy to get the bike because she could work out and get her endorphin rush more often. Clearly she’s not in need of a more trim body.
But I find the Peleton ads annoying. All those trim, young, earnest (professional fitness people?) in their gorgeous homes with their gorgeous inter racial children talking to clones on the little TV screen who are urging them on. No stress, gobs of money, no apparent need to work to make a living. Sign me up.
Ann Althouse did a funny take down of the commercial and includes a hilarious send up of same.
I find nothing wrong with the ad. The only thing wrong with it is what you bring to it.
But, apparently, slamming Peloton is kind of a thing: https://cheezburger.com/7760645/hilarious-twitter-thread-roasts-rich-people-and-their-bougie-peloton-bikes
So, that might be behind some of the criticism of this ad.
-Jut
I didn’t get offended (you have to work harder than that), but I admit to wondering what was wrong with her, and her husband (who’s barely there). Like WHY is she a freak about it? Why is she scared to get on this bike? Is she unable to leave the house and an agoraphobic and this is the only social interaction she can tolerate? It’s confusing enough to more firmly cement that I wasn’t going to buy one anyway, but I had no idea what they were trying to say. It was clear what they were selling, but there’s no reason in it that anyone SHOULD buy it.
I can relate a bit, as I have recently started a routine. Of course, mine is measured by weeks, not days.
When she wakes up at 6:00, I know the feeling. You don’t want to get up and work out. It is a chore. But, you feel better afterward (hopefully).
So, the ad is NOT saying: “get our bike and working out will be fun.” It is saying: “with commitment, there is a pay-off.”
That was my take anyway.
-Jut
Peloton is sort of a scam. You buy the spinning bike at a high price (over $2,000) but what they want is your monthly membership so you can ride along with the streamed classes. That cost about $85.00 a month).
I like the commercial, find it modestly inspiring, and have no idea what the hell these people are talking about. Plus, the lady in the commercial is cute. So I’m shallow and old-fashioned — sue me.
To be sure, I wouldn’t buy a Peloton, because every gym I know of has spinning classes for those who want to go to them, and they are probably cheaper than Peloton. But whatever.
I’d missed the full ‘glory’ of the ad, due to vision issues. That makes it easy to avoid ads. But seeing that clearly did leave me uncomfortable in subtle ways that cannot quite fit into any one choice well.
It is just an ad and easily ignored. Few ads are clever enough or engaging enough to pull me away from peeling potatoes, ordering holiday presents, or writing a comment on a website. BUT, that discomfort indicates that the ad is failing its goal of making their ad be appealing. I have good feelings for products or businesses that aren’t available here yet, but fail on the theme and mood of the ad makes their pool of customers cut in half or lower. Keep being tone-deaf in your ads and you will not stay in business, Woke Disney is ignoring the rumblings from their not listening but telling. Yes, it is an ad, but anger, irritation. and creepy will outlast the ad run for a very long time.
So, while it is an ad the other listed issues contribute to the inobvious issues with it, and I am very not surprised by the lopsided results across genders. While not necessarily intended by all, there is a much higher pressure for women to be beautiful and thin, instead of today’s Val Kilmer. I was hit particularly hard as a teen, and it does insidious things to your confidence in many areas outside an exercise bike.
As we are discussing the problem of the ad, some answers are more easily removed from the list. Just a commercial equals harmless, diluting those as well as making speaking about an issue moot. Even if something doesn’t bother you, marketers should be encouraging people to look with favor, not dismissal or contempt. adfail. I am also NOT surprised that the lowest vote was for I wanna get one to make someone use it. (I suspect some of those votes were wiseacres, as telling your spouse they’re fat is a fast way to get in trouble. But even if the roughly three out of a hundred looking with favor at the ad is a LOW approval. Offensive is such a generic complaint that I can no longer take it seriously without details. Offensive can be each of the other five offensive because its an ad for a dumb product/price/subscription. Offensive and sexist, because the guy didn’t get all excited and weepy to exercise for her. Offensive is just an add-on offense, it cannot be stand alone.
Now we get to the two that don’t quite grasp all the ew of the ad. Sexist is easier to see as a beautiful woman is the only one using the bike despite the cost, the only one expected to need to use a pricy bike. Why don”t we see him taking his turn considering health issues are for both genders? It’s her job alone and we don’t even see the giver giving her moral support like an attaboy or cup of coffee when she is done. It’s pretty lonely to have only a camera to talk to instead of the one you’re doing this for(recording or exercising) I wish I had answered sinister now. As her cringing, fearful looks, and seeking approval from her smartphone camera is the deeply disturbing/sinister/creepy of grooming and gaslighting. Her husband doesn’t even have to show up, she cringes remotely for him and keeps the record so he can what enjoy the fear on her face at any time? Now gaslighting is not really gender based, though the classic Hitchcock had a woman victim too. But you could flip the genders without changing the creepy, so sinister was harder to see. That pundit was right, that ‘help me’ in Morse says it succinctly.
I’m just sick of seeing the ad. It was stupid the first time I saw it, and it is still stupid. It is not stupid for any of the given reasons, it is just stupid. She is way too flipping excited to get an exercise bike, and people like that annoy me, on the other hand, she is kind of hot. She has that Tulsi Gabbard Mommy look about her.
“She called my name” like it is fucking romper room or something.
Has Peloton issued any sort of statement apologizing to those who may have been triggered? I’d be curious to see the (if you’ll forgive me) figures the spot’s produced; if it’s working, it’ll continue to air.
I don’t know why, but it reminds me of T.V. Executive Frank Cross (Bill Murray in Scrooged):
“That (promo for a Christmas Special) isn’t good enough! They have got to be so scared to miss it! So terrified! Now if I were in charge, and I am. Perhaps I can help you. Here’s the kind of thing I would have done.
“Grace, Cue It Up.”
This poor gal is being Fit-Shamed?**
**lifted material
From a purely advertising standpoint, the ad is pretty weak. When you’re selling a fitness product, it’s not a great idea to have the “before” and “after” look identical. The message seems to be “if you use our product fanatically for a whole year, you’ll look exactly the same as when you started!” I can get that result by just doing nothing…
But she was CHANGED! She loved Big Husband!
While in some ways this is much ado about nothing, commenter Jeff above hits it closest to where I sit: I first thought of this as a “before and after” kind of thing, and couldn’t help but think it was crazy and/or stupid. What did she lose, like five pounds or so? As a “husky” individual and also a fairly avid cyclist, I have tried for decades to be truly motivated in the winter months in Michigan to head down to the basement to begin the dreaded off-season training. I’ve struggled with my weight most of my life; this commercial, with its happy, smiling, motivated, SKINNY woman made me want to throw a brick at the TV. “What does she have to worry about?? She’s a twig!” That kind of thing, you know? Then I started reading the online commentary (which one should never do, with the exception of this very blog), and it of course became ridiculous. Is the husband shaming the wife in some way? Is she being subservient? All the things people can be offended about! It got me to thinking that the ad agency had managed to push literally ALL the buttons, but in the wrong direction!! How did they manage to be tone deaf to every possible constituency?
Imagine, if you will, the ad agency had found a slightly older, balding, heavyset gentleman to do a truly “before and after” style campaign. It would have to literally be a year-long project, one in which the film crew followed me.. er.. this gentleman… around all year, filming his exercise routines, his progress, his failures, his successes… Only to see that, at the end of the year, he’s still portly, still frustrated, and out over two grand for the bike and classes. Not a very effective campaign, is it? Or IS it?? “Hey!! I’m just like that guy! I could buy one of those!!” You never know…
Peloton was afraid to show an overweight woman, because that would be deemed fat-shaming, so it picked a thin one, rendering the add bizarre, and also counter-effectual: why use a fitness machine that appears to have no effect after a year? Afraid to cast appropriately, they cast an in-shape woman to talk like and act like an out-of-shape one, raising issues of dysmorphia and bullying by her husband
I voted sinister for the women… she was exactly the same (minus several thousand dollars and hundreds of man hours) at the end as at the beginning. The desperation was creepy. The vibe of ‘rich white first world problems’ was thick. Most of America would have this bike facing a blank wall… how wealthy does one have to be to have the view of nature portrayed in these commercials? Where is the feminist I-earn-the-bacon professional angle? Does she not have a job to go to? Work from home? (Gasp!) Not work at all?
Who writes and directs this sort of ad? They would seem to live in a bubble, likely on one of the coasts.
I voted ‘just a commercial’ for the men… because, meh, he is out earning a living, presumably, and bought his wife a toy with the proceeds. It could have been a puppy, that grew into a dog worthy to take jogging (with the same results and a lot less cash laid out) or a fancy treadmill (that has the same sort of classes). “Me make money, spend on family” is the basic mentality of most men, amiright?
I…was expecting to see something different. Where does it show that she wants to lose weight? Does she get on a scale and I missed it? Do people only ride bikes to lose weight? Where does the commercial imply that it was the husband’s idea to get her this bike so she can lose weight? Where do we get the impression that she’s trying to please him by using it?
It just looks like the bike is something she really wanted, she loves to cycle, and she’s filming herself because aren’t those bikes part of some group cycling video conferencing deal? Or, my second guess would be that she’s vlogging. No one would assume that she records videos in her house of herself using her bike solely for her husband’s approval. He’s barely in the video. Even if you think the commercial didn’t do a good job getting its point across, one can still tell that the point is supposed to be that she’s crazy about this awesome product/service, not about pleasing her demanding husband.
I WANTED to hate this. Upper class white people are my favorite white people to roll my eyes at. I think anyone who pays for yoga might as well set their money on fire in front of a homeless shelter. But this commercial is not showing what people think it’s showing. I don’t get it.
I shared a tweet above, and I’m increasingly convinced that the attitude of the tweet is almost 100% accurate.
Those who find offense in this commercial never were even remotely close to being the target demographic for this product.
Those who understand the ad and also see how it could be appealing are either the target audience or have a passing knowledge of fitness combined with having tried to be fit at some point in their lives.
The more I consider it, the more it comes off as a very effective ad. It isn’t meant to convert the uninterested…it’s meant to convince fitness-oriented people to use Peloton and not Peloton-competitors.
The same way I don’t think Americans would appreciate THIS ad:
For what it’s worth, I asked my wife to focus on the ad when it came on (again and again) last night. Her reaction: the woman looks land acts like a dominated, terrorized wife. I gather she would check “sinister” on the poll.