Understand the Last Decade Through the Peloton and Aviator Gin Ads
It might be fitting that during the last month the decade, product marketing showcases just how our society has evolved — or devolved.
Company A releases a holiday ad meant to showcase how an exercise bike and virtual community can help improve individual self worth. The Internet mob says the ad is sexist, poorly executed, and makes fun of the company’s we’re more than a bike ethos. In the middle of social backlash, Company B uses the same actress in Company A’s ad, showing her drowning her shame in gin.
This all happened in a span of 10 days. A disheartening capstone on 10 years that created an ultra-jaded culture.
Let’s unpack this a bit.
Company A is Peloton. Peloton makes high quality, tech enabled, exercise equipment. The driving force behind Peloton as an exercise experience is that it happens mostly in your home. But, highly motivating live instructors, interactive leaderboards, and personal metrics give you more than just exercise.
Company B is Aviation Gin. Aviation makes a craft gin supported by a backstory narrated by owner and actor, Ryan Reynolds.
Disclaimer: I’m a Peloton owner. In fact, I have two of these expensive bikes, one where I primarily live and work in Denver, and the other in NY where my wife primarily lives and works.
I love pretty much everything about the Peloton experience and ethos. There are days and weeks when my mental state is not optimal. Depression and anxiety have always been part of my life. The Peloton has become part of my toolkit for keeping the worst episodes at bay.
While the official Peloton Facebook group leaves a lot to be desired, I like to check in from time-to-time to read impressive stories from other riders. Many people have found refuge through the bike and community. Many have used Peloton to get through some of the worst times of their life. And the support of other riders makes you realize that the good far outweighs the bad.
So, when you watch the Peloton ad below, understand that the people behind the ad had all of the context above and more.
The biggest problem with that Peloton ad is it left too much to be filled in by the viewer’s imagination. How dare the husband give his already thin wife an exercise bike? How dare she just accept her husband’s social demand to be something she isn’t? It was all downhill from there.
Marketing experts could hold an all day symposium on the execution of the ad. But the main message still comes through. The wife got a gift that was more than an exercise bike. She shared the experience of her fears and triumphs. And finally, she expressed a sense of gratitude for the journey.
The Internet mob took over and made light of all of that basic good the Peloton ad was meaning to express.
What resulted after about a week of social media ridicule, news stories about the hype, and Peloton’s stock dropping 10% was a “sequel” ad from another, completely unrelated company — Aviation Gin.
The biggest problem with that Aviation Gin ad is it trades on shame. The narrative following the Peloton ad (this is fiction, remember) is that the Peloton wife is living in shame and hiding. She did not know how her husband was psychologically abusing and oppressing her. Then she got woke — thanks to the Internet.
What to do next?
Drown those feelings of shame and lack of self-worth with alcohol.
That is exactly what Peloton actually counters for 1000s of people every day.
Seth Godin, marketing genius extraordinaire, explains that marketing in the 21st century is much different than in the mid-20th century.
In the Mad Men era, we added marketing last. Marketing and advertising were the same thing, and the job was to promote what was made.
In the connection era, the marketing is the product, the service and most of all the conversations it causes and the connections it makes.
The conversations that emerged from the Peloton ad built upon a series of narratives about gender equality, self-image, social comparison, and socio-economic disparities.
After the Aviation Gin ad hit, the conversation that emerged was about speed and opportunity in a hyper-realized media environment.
All of that misses the point.
We live in a pseudo-connected society. The promise of Facebook and the Internet are challenging our very human need for real connection. We live in incredible isolation and disconnection (See Johann Hari). More people are experiencing severe anxiety and depression. Suicide rates are increasing — now a top 10 cause of death in the U.S. Suicide is the second leading cause of death for people 10–24 in the U.S. (See this and this).
The press exacerbates the very real issues underlying this marketing fiction. The headline from Marketing Watch today: Ryan Reynold’s Aviation Gin just saved the actress in the ‘Peloton Girl’ ad.
The message that alcohol “saves” is absolutely dangerous. I lived in addiction for 12 years. Alcohol was not my savior and nearly my reaper.
Ryan Reynolds understands Godin’s marketing genius. I love the story behind Aviation Gin. The narrative is snarky and pokes fun at the hipster culture and craft beverage industry. I don’t know if the gin is any good, but you cannot have a marketing product with a terrible product. I want to like the product.
But the Aviation Gin ad is actually worse than the Peloton ad.
The loser in this entire saga is the human desire to find and experience joy. The Peloton ad was not perfect, but neither is our individual process for seeking comfort, growth, and happiness.
We have our work cut out for us in the next decade.
