We believe people want a result. Our job is to convince them that our product or service will get them that result. Nobody buys a Peloton because they want a piece of workout equipment. They buy a Peloton because they want the lifestyle the equipment promises to deliver.

It’s a character layer, not the central focus. The ad is trying to hit several niches within the larger demo. It’s there to get the women who can identify with that particular aspect. My wife had two kids and it’s taken three years since the last one for her to finally lose most of her baby weight, and she spotted the…

Thank you for the articulate, well-considered critical analysis. This is my favorite comment on this thread.

I haven’t seen the commercial you’re talking about, but attractive people in commercials are a fairly standard aspirational marketing tactic. You put good looking people in an ad because society associates beauty with happiness, so the viewer subconsciously thinks “That good looking person looks so happy using that…

And that’s before you even get into Blue Steel and Magnum variants.

The obvious privilege aspect is part of why the ad comes off the way it does. Almost like there’s a wink to the intended purchaser: “You know what you signed on for when you married that kind of guy. He made the money; Peloton will help you fulfill your end of the bargain.” The people who don’t get that subtext either…

Sorry, but no. I’m a professional writer and marketer (and former English teacher) and it’s my job to analyze things like advertisements for consumer penetration. The first time I saw this ad while watching TV, before any articles were written, it struck me as not achieving the message the makers were trying for.…

I work in Marketing—you don’t casually throw a kid into something.

He should try to get cast in a revival of Taint Misbehavin’.

Blame his agent. It’s a vicious circle: mediocre actor gets mediocre agent who gives mediocre advice with mediocre results and mediocre career advancement.

There’s a very deliberate reason why the commercial includes that moment when she breathlessly says, “They said my name!” Just like keto or crossfit or any other big fitness fad, this thing is sold on identity and belonging. You Are Peloton.

The Playboy centerfold is implicit. Also, the presence of a young kid implies that the wife didn’t get her body back after the pregnancy to the husband’s satisfaction.

There’s an irony here: an actress trying too hard to put in a good performance to please her clients so she gets to keep working ends up coming off as a woman trying too hard to stay fit to please her husband so he won’t kick her out of the house.

Not that I have any sympathy for him, but I think the problem with the ad is less the script (although it certainly has problems) and more with the direction and acting. They probably could’ve told the same story without having her look so desperate for his approval and him looking like if she doesn’t keep it tight…

Grow a beard? But then he’d have to get all new headshots. Do you have any idea how much those things cost? What kind of uncaring monster are you?

‘s why I think it’s funny when people are like “why are you so outraged about a commercial,” and I’m like, dude, I am not outraged about this commercial. I’m outraged by Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump and things that actually have long-range consequences. The word for how I feel about this ad is “critical,” which is…

As a Last Jedi defender, I want to love anything Star Wars that tries something new. Which is why I was exited by the idea of The Mandalorian telling a different kind of story in this universe. But after a few episodes, I started to get a sinking feeling that I was watching the Star Wars equivalent of The Walking…

I drove Lyft for about two months and stopped for a variety of reasons, one of which is that a couple sketchy situations made me realize how potentially unsafe what I was doing was. My wife asked me if she should start driving as well. “NOPE!” was my instant response. If it’s dangerous out there for a man, I can only…

I think it’s because John McCain is her father. You knew that, right?

I call shenanigans. We already have one simple word to sum up all our apathy, cynicism, and ironic detachment: