If you’ve even casually watched television in the past week, odds are that you saw Peloton’s newest holiday commercial and the discourse that ensued around it. The advertisement followed a woman (played by Monica Ruiz) who is gifted the premium exercise bike from her husband for Christmas, and proceeds to spend the next year vlogging her indoctrination into the Peloton lifestyle. The commercial was quickly dubbed bizarre, hilarious, and a little horrifying by those on social media, something that Ryan Reynolds‘ Aviation Gin company quickly capitalized on. Just days after the Peloton discourse began, Aviation Gin debuted a new commercial, which shows Ruiz drinking with her friends while being traumatized by the Peloton of it all. According to a new article in The New York Times, Reynolds jumped at the idea of putting Ruiz in a commercial, as he can understand the idea of being part of entertainment “that’s not well received”.
“As an actor, I can certainly relate to creating a piece of content or being part of something that’s not well received, and how alienating that can feel,” Reynolds revealed. “We had immense respect for any reservations she might have had. We don’t want to make the situation any worse for her.”
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It’s easy to see where Reynolds is coming from, as his career includes properties such as the infamous Green Lantern movie and other box office flops like RIPD and Turbo. The actor has certainly bounced back in recent years thanks to franchises like Deadpool and Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, and has also charmed the public with his surprisingly-topical Aviation Gin commercials. Past commercials have lampooned everything from Henry Cavill’s Justice League mustache to a very specific line in the Fyre Festival documentaries.
“Ads are generally disposable pieces of content,” Reynolds explained. “If you’re going to do something like this, you have to jump on the zeitgeist-y moment as it happens.”
With the “Peloton wife” ad, that jump reportedly happened in a matter of days, as Reynolds and his business partner George Dewey first spoke about the backlash on Tuesday. Ruiz was then contacted the following day, and the commercial was shot for less than $100,000 in several hours that Friday, and released later that evening.
“When Ryan and his production team called about Aviation Gin, they helped me find some humor in the situation,” Ruiz said in a statement shortly after the commercial was released. “I am grateful to both Peloton and now Aviation Gin for the work and giving me the opportunity to do what I love to do.”
What do you think of Ryan Reynolds’ take on the Peloton controversy? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
