By Rick Stanton
On Page A18 of the Dec. 5 edition of The Seattle Times, there’s a column by Aimee Ortiz of the New York Times. It’s titled “Online punchline: Peloton faces backlash over fitness-bike ad.”
You may have seen the ad. It features a young woman who’s received a Peloton exercise bike from her husband and her initial reticence about the gift.
Comedians are spoofing it. Social media has skewered it for being sexist and classist, because the couple has a fireplace in the ad.
What in the hell is wrong with this country—besides Trump?
When you have to work that hard, or at all, to denigrate a seemingly harmless TV ad, you need to seriously consider a hobby. Or therapy.
I have been, and remain, a hater of bad, harmful, stupid and insulting advertising. There is a lot to choose from, especially these days. But this ad is not any of those things.
Maybe if the couple was black or gay, people wouldn’t feel the same way. But the couple is white, young and apparently successful. That’s a bad thing now?
The woman seems healthy and young enough, so hubby didn’t exactly imply, “You’re fat and I’m seeing someone else on the side, so get in shape.”
The copy is actually pretty smart and fun, and if you’ve ever bought a home-exercise machine, you probably know that it ends up being a home for spiders and dust.
The woman in the ad is even grateful for the gift a year later. We’ve become so cynical, on so many levels, that nothing is safe from hyper-critical bullying.
In my opinion, the conflict over this ad is not only unnecessary, it’s counter-productive, given all the other real stuff we face. So, to the people taking umbrage at this ad, I say “SHUT UP.”
Go find something to do that makes a positive change in this $#@% storm our country is experiencing. And get your fat butt into a gym—or onto a Peloton— while you’re at it.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/03/us/peloton-ad-controversy-trnd/index.html