Peloton exercise bike ad mocked as being 'sexist' and 'dystopian'

[Elixir]

If there's no such thing as bad publicity this kerfuffle -warranted or not - will be a plus for the mfr. in the long run. There will be many whose association with if will be positive. They may not turn out on internet forums to argue for their irrational bigotry, but they will better remember the Peloton band name.

 

[ruby sparks]

Why do you care about an anonymous troll's opinion ?

Who is 'you' and who is the 'troll' and why did you say 'anonymous'?

You is Ruby Sparks, why do you care about the opinion of anonymous trolls on Twatter ? Do you have stock in Peloton ? What is the point of your OP ?

Setting aside that I don’t think they were necessarily anonymous, or trolls, why do you ask? Or to put it another way, why do you yourself care what my interest is?

I find the phenomenon of what I call ‘too woke’ to be interesting, a bit annoying and unhelpful. It’s definitely part of the current political zeitgeist, and sometimes even the Political one, and appears to be on the increase. Sometimes I think woke seems to go a bit too far. IMO that’s a perfectly reasonable point of view. I’m not suggesting it’s a serious threat to western civilisation, though imo it’s not a good thing.

 

[Jarhyn]

Why do you care about an anonymous troll's opinion ?

Who is 'you' and who is the 'troll' and why did you say 'anonymous'?

You is Ruby Sparks, why do you care about the opinion of anonymous trolls on Twatter ? Do you have stock in Peloton ? What is the point of your OP ?

So what you are saying is that nobody here should care about your opinion. Good to know.

 

[TSwizzle]

You is Ruby Sparks, why do you care about the opinion of anonymous trolls on Twatter ? Do you have stock in Peloton ? What is the point of your OP ?

Setting aside that I don’t think they were necessarily anonymous, or trolls, why do you ask? Or to put it another way, why do you yourself care what my interest is?

I don't care, just slightly curious but pretty much lost interest 30 seconds after I posted. Sorry to have wasted your bandwidth

 

[ruby sparks]

It is an article about some anonymous people tweeting displeasure about a commercial.
What are you on about?
That some people complaining on Twitter is to be expected about everything... and that it isn't a reflection on the population as a whole. The significance of this approaches being negligible.

It does not appear to be a negligible issue for the owners of the company or possibly their investors.

This issue can be overplayed, and it can be underplayed. Right now, you seem to be doing the latter.

I don't see the value in doing either.

Underplaying a relatively small number of Tweets?

As I said, From the pov of being one of the owners of the company, or perhaps one of its investors, and if what is being reported is correct, it would seem to have been a non-trivial issue to those persons.

Tangentially, something I noticed is that today I started two threads in the politics forum, on different topics, and in both cases you were the first to reply and your response was to apparently pretty much consider neither of the issues even worth discussing. Im wondering if maybe you just got out of bed on the wrong side this morning, or if both OPs coincidentally have something in common which might have affected the nature of your responses.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

BWAHAHA!!!

 

[ruby sparks]

BWAHAHA!!!

You're probably right. It was likely just a coincidence.

Nice use of caps and exclamation marks though. I hope you didn't spew too much coffee over your keyboard there.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Naw... I was using the app.

 

[ZiprHead]

Some tweets about the Peloton ad:

Look I don’t want to be “The Peloton Ad Guy” anymore but the newest commercial about the vlogging 116 lb woman’s YEARLONG fitness journey to becoming a 112 lb woman who says “I didn’t realize how much this would change me” is just ri-god-damn-diculous. Come on.

the peloton ad is perfect and good and there is nothing wrong with a surveillance hamster wheel in your home

Peloton responds to ad criticism: “Stop the mean tweets by midnight or we will never release her.”

https://wokesloth.com/peloton-xmas-commerical/alison-sullivan/

 

[ruby sparks]

Some tweets about the Peloton ad.....

Look I don’t want to be “The Peloton Ad Guy” anymore but the newest commercial about the vlogging 116 lb woman’s YEARLONG fitness journey to becoming a 112 lb woman who says “I didn’t realize how much this would change me” is just ri-god-damn-diculous. Come on.

When I started serious fitness training about 3 years ago, I was 92kg. I'm still 92kg, but I'm a LOT fitter. So to that guy I'd say....nice try. Do some research next time.

And (bombshell alert) I have to thank my wife for actively encouraging me. She even bought me trainers and sports kit for Christmas!!!



I do feel that I am an oppressed husband, for other reasons, but that's a separate issue entirely.

 

[ruby sparks]

What struck me the first time I saw it, is the look of panic/fear on the actress's face when she received the "gift" of Peloton.

Actress. Potentially a slightly dodgy word these days, according to some. Just sayin'. Be careful.

 

[ruby sparks]

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=Yyqsj5EGu1A&feature=emb_logo[/YOUTUBE]

This one was banned, for suggesting men are not good parents.

 

[ruby sparks]

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=U4tAVYvYz7U&feature=emb_logo[/YOUTUBE]

This one was banned for similar reasons (gender stereotyping) but of the opposite sort.

 

[Playball40]

Yeah, the ad left an "ick" feeling in me too. The bike "changed" her? If she was going for it being a stress relief, then the message was GROSSLY lost. I am WELL aware that weight =/ health but I think there could be more effective ways of getting that message across than the husband buying this as a surprise gift for her.

 

[Playball40]

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=Yyqsj5EGu1A&feature=emb_logo[/YOUTUBE]

This one was banned, for suggesting men are not good parents.

I DESPISE those ads that make men out to be clueless buffoons! It is beyond annoying.

 

[Metaphor]

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pShKu2icEYw[/YOUTUBE]

Is it just me, or is there nothing wrong with this ad whatsoever? Because I don't see anything wrong.

The company's shares reportedly dropped 9% after criticism:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50649826

For me, this is heading straight into the 'too woke' category.

Of course there is nothing wrong with the ad, and the people complaining about it isn't "heading" into too woke. "Woke" is already too woke, and they're not heading there, they're already there.

This ad was criticised by screeching woke harpies (or not even woke harpies, just ordinary feminists I imagine) who cannot conceive of any reason for a woman to exercise except to lose weight and become sexually desirable for men. (Many of the deranged criticisms revolved around the theme that she started the commercial 'rail thin', as if rail thin people do not benefit from exercise).

However, stories like this (where mainstream media journalists trawl twitter for outraged woke comments) distort our understanding of public sentiment. I don't think most people know about this commercial or care about it, but a headline "99.9% of world has never seen this commercial" does not a clickbait story make.

 

[Metaphor]

I watched the ad and was wondering what was supposed to be "sexist" about it. Then I read the stupid article

Some people complained it is sexist for a man to give his wife an exercise bike for Christmas, as it suggested he wanted her to lose weight.

Oh, for crying out loud! This is why "sexism" is right there with "racism" as one of the most overused words.

Others noted that - despite claims the bike has "changed" her - the already slim actress who plays the main character looks exactly the same.

People are aware that fitness is not just about weight or nah?

Derec, you are so ignorant. Don't you know you can be healthy at any size, including super obesity? Fitness has nothing to do with size and you should be ashamed for thinking so.

 

[Metaphor]

The aspiring actor/Peloton husband (damn he's hot) talks about the online hate he's received in this article:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/aesthetics-101/201912/disgraced-peloton-husband-speaks-out


One person called for him to be jailed for his involvement in the commercial. You can't make this shit up folks.

Few people know what it's like to be thrust into the public eye amidst worldwide controversy quite like the actor who plays the "tone-deaf" husband in a recent controversial Peloton ad. (You probably know the one but HERE it is).

The Peloton Husband, Sean Hunter
Source: Sean Hunter, used with permission.



Sean Hunter is an actor and elementary school teacher in Vancouver, Canada (he also happens to be one of my best friends). In real life, he's a decidedly good guy, so after reading a stranger's tweet which called for him to be jailed for his involvement in the commercial, and another strangers' tweet claiming that there was a "100% chance" he was abusive, I decided to reach out.

...

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Yeah, the ad left an "ick" feeling in me too. The bike "changed" her? If she was going for it being a stress relief, then the message was GROSSLY lost. I am WELL aware that weight =/ health but I think there could be more effective ways of getting that message across than the husband buying this as a surprise gift for her.

This really feels like an opportunity for a Strange Planet cartoon.

Character comes down stairs. Sees Peloton trainer. Eyes in Shock. "You got me a towel rack".
"Yes, an expensive one."
*hugs* "I'll dry towels on it everyday."

or

Character comes down stairs. Sees Peloton trainer. Eyes in Shock. "You got me a towel rack".
"Yes, an expensive one."
*hugs* "What else does it do?"
"It collects dust when not drying towels."

 

[ruby sparks]

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=16&v=Yyqsj5EGu1A&feature=emb_logo[/YOUTUBE]

This one was banned, for suggesting men are not good parents.

I DESPISE those ads that make men out to be clueless buffoons! It is beyond annoying.

My view is...... a little bit more latitude should be allowed for individual ads, especially (as here) where there's a certain whimsical element. Each individual advert surely shouldn't have to humourlessly avoid all stereotypes or be 100% inclusive or PC. If the ads of a certain product or seller or manufacturer (eg Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Peloton or Volkswagen) start to manifest a certain recurring pattern of gender stereotyping, for example, well then that'd be more something that might deserve attention.

My memory of Philadelphia Cream Cheese adverts is that for a long time they used to feature what I might call 'two rather silly, slightly dim women'. Maybe now they're doing silly, dim men. Maybe, after the revolution, all ads featuring anyone who is silly or dim will be banned.