Recently, there has been some controversy around a commercial for Peloton bikes. Their commercial showed a small family on Christmas morning, or somewhere around there. The wife walks down the stairs with her daughter and is met with her husband and a gift. He shows that it's a Peloton bike. The rest of the commercial is her starting out kind of nervous and vlogging her rides for a year. Here's the link for the original Peloton bike ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pShKu2icEYw&feature=emb_logo
The problem that people have had with the commercial is that the wife already looks thin and fit, but with the husband giving her the bike, its like he's telling her that she needs to lose weight. One of the biggest things that people have commented on is her facial expressions. The actress herself said that her worried expression is probably what drew a lot of the criticism. When I first watched it, I guess without hearing about the controversy before hand I wouldn't have really thought anything of it, but knowing what people have said, I definitely do see how others perceive it.
Building off of the controversy, Ryan Reynolds was able to use it to his advantage. He's the owner of Aviation Gin, and they used the same actress in their commercial. In this commercial, its her and two of her friends, and they're out drinking the gin. One can infer from the commercial that she and her husband got into a fight, which is why they're out. The wife chugs her drink and then takes one of her friends. Then at the end, her other friends says something like, "You look really good by the way." I think that this is a pretty smart move for Reynold's company. The storyline fits with the other commercial and its poking some fun at Peloton. They only actually comment on the gin once, saying that it's smooth, but that's it. The ad isn't really bashing Peloton or meant to be saying anything about the company, but the team for Aviation Gin saw the opportunity to have some fun with it and came up with this ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=H2t7lknrK28&feature=emb_logo
Wow! So funny and yet so clever. I had no idea that this had happened and I am so happy I learned of it. It is so crazy to me how advertisements can build off of each other, and this example just goes to show that companies are often looking for opportunities to do so. Honestly when I watched the Peleton commercial I didn't quite see the issue, but as you said I could see where people are coming from. This is just an example of how cautious brands and companies have to be when it comes to advertising. But, with that said I think what Ryan Reynolds team did was great and so much fun. it truly gave me a kick and immediately made me like whatever they were selling. And as you said I don't think it was done to kick down Peleton, but rather feed off of it.
ReplyDeleteAwesome Job and great example!
ReplyDelete