When Peloton dropped a holiday ad right before Christmas 2020, they expected it to be received as an ad showing a husband gifting his wife a Peloton bike for Christmas because he loves her. However, Peloton received major backlash for their commercial, as it was received in the complete opposite way that it was intended. 

The commercial starts off with a man gifting a woman, who the audience can assume is his wife, a Peloton exercise bike. When she gets onto the bike she says, “A little nervous, but excited. Let’s do this.” The commercial then shows the woman doing daily Peloton sessions and taking selfies and videos during every single one, while also explaining how she is surprised that she has been doing it everyday (and even getting up at 6 a.m.). As evident from the photo above, there is a constant look of fear in the woman’s eyes. She is also very obviously grimacing, which suggests that she is uncomfortable. She looks scared that she is not going to get approval from her husband if she does not use the bike he got her, so she makes sure to document the whole process as proof. She does not look excited about the bike, and looks like she is being forced to exercise. Because the commercial was not understood by viewers as the creators intended it to be, the grimace on the woman’s face heightened the negative parts of Peloton.

For the whole commercial, she is unsure, timid, and shy, all while acting like she needs approval from her husband (which is why she started the workouts in the first place). The commercial pans to an instructor shouting her out and the woman saying “She just said my name!” All of these clips are then compiled into a documentary that the woman created to show her husband how grateful she is for the gift. She thanks him by saying, “A year ago, I didn’t realize how much this would change me. Thank you.” 

The controversy within the commercial comes with the claim that it’s sexist. The husband wanted his wife to get in shape so he gave her a peloton to “force” her to work out, and then, when she shows him the final video, he looks satisfied with the transformation. The other controversy within the commercial is how the woman is portrayed. There are many scenes in the commercial where you can see her big eyes with a look of fear in them. She is constantly taking videos of her on the Peloton to prove to her husband that she is using it, while also saying that she is surprised that she is still going, which means that she is feeling the effects of working out and is exhausted. At the end of the commercial, she compiles her videos to show to her husband. After her husband sees the video, he just gives her a smile and no other words of affirmation.

This Peloton commercial and its choice of actors proves further stereotypes and standards that society places on women. At the beginning of the commercial, the woman was not working out and was surprised to get a Peloton, which is obvious through her surprise when her husband gifts her one. She was timid while working out and is still timid at the end when she shows her husband the video that she made. The woman in the commercial is also already a healthy weight. She is what society would consider “skinny,” and society believes that if a person is skinny, they are healthy. However, she is still seemingly forced to work out by her husband, which further supports the impossible standards that society puts on women’s bodies. Women will never be able to achieve a “perfect body” and will always feel like they have to work to achieve a body that others will find attractive, even when they are already at a healthy weight.

The commercial also completely skews why people decide to workout. The Peloton commercial portrays the woman as only working out because her husband thinks that she should. When she starts using the Peloton, it’s obvious that she is “out-of-shape” and trying to get into a schedule for working out. She is trying to figure out how to use the bike, while also visibly struggling in all the classes. It makes it seem like she is doing it for him, and not just for herself.  While some women work out because they want to change their appearance others workout because it helps their mental health. This Peloton commercial puts forward many toxic ideas about women’s workout culture. 

The previously mentioned ad is not the only problematic ad that Peloton has released. The majority of Peloton commercials are considered controversial. Peloton creates their ads to be targeted towards a certain demographic, which is the group of people who can afford a fifteen hundred dollar exercise bike. As evident in the photo above, Peloton commercials almost always include a skinny woman on her Peloton bike, which has a designated platform in her well-decorated house. The snapshot above includes a thin white woman on her bike in front of a wall that is all windows, which can lead a viewer to infer that she is well-off. Peloton’s CEO John Foley even said that Peloton’s target demographic are “people who have children, live in suburbs, have nice homes, they have the money and space but don’t necessarily have time.” The majority of people in the commercials are also white. All of these factors put forward an unrealistic expectation of what people’s peloton experiences are going to be. It also gives off the impression that everyone riding a peloton has to be a “put-together rich person.” This is further complicated by the majority of the commercials including white people. Does this mean that Peloton’s vision of a “well-off” person is a white person?

Broadcasting exclusively skinny women working out can make fat people feel like a Peloton is not meant for them. It can also create unrealistic body standards for people working out on Pelotons. If Peloton is broadcasting skinny white women as the ideal Peloton users, other Peloton users could use this as unrealistic and unhealthy goals that would turn their workout journey into more of a “self-hate” journey than a “self-love” journey, all while trying to get their bodies to look like the ones they see in commercials. 

Peloton tries to put forward a “life-changing” experience with their workout machines, but they are not successful– but this could all be part of their marketing scheme. Leaving viewers feeling insecure and feeling desirous can lead to more business for Peloton. Their commercials leaves viewers feeling insecure about their own bodies and workout routines, all while projecting harmful ideals about body types, along with certain demographics of Peloton users. 

References:

Peloton Commercial: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/3/20993432/peloton-new-commercial-horror-movie

CEO Quote: https://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/08/pelotons-race-for-home-cycling.html

Photos: https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/12/3/20993432/peloton-new-commercial-horror-movie

Peloton Commercial Song – Indoor Exercise Bike