Peloton Wife left her husband (and the Peloton) and got drunk on Aviation Gin

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The stupid Peloton commercial went viral last week. The commercial featured a husband surprising his thin, attractive wife with a Peloton for Christmas, and then she dutifully filmed herself using the Peloton and then she edited all of the footage together to make him a video to show him that she liked that he surprised her with a $2200 piece of exercise equipment. There was so much bulls–t in those 30 seconds, it was hard to even describe. The wife came across as a somewhat abused woman living in a gilded cage and the husband seemed like a douche. There were spoofs and tons of online rage directed at the message behind the commercial. Peloton’s stock price tumbled but they stuck by the campaign.

The whole commercial and backlash became A Thing and we’ve gotten to the point where the actor playing the Peloton Husband is issuing statements and complaining about how he’s now being associated with sexist advertising. Meanwhile, Peloton Wife has been identified: the actress’s name is Monica Ruiz and she’s worked on many commercials and TV shows. Thankfully, Monica Ruiz got a new job post-Peloton ad. She actually got a job BECAUSE of the Peloton ad. Behold, a commercial for Ryan Reynolds’ Aviation Gin. It’s set in the same “universe” as the Peloton Marriage: Peloton Wife has clearly abandoned Peloton Husband after trying so hard to make it work for the sake of the Peloton (which was a “surprise gift,” remember).

Ryan posted this on his social media too, with the message “Exercise bike not included. #AviationGin.” Savage. And SO clever. I wonder who thought this up? An ad executive, a gin executive or Ryan? The turn-around was SO FAST. Say that someone came up with this a week ago, just as the Peloton ad – which had been on air for a few weeks already – was blowing up online. They found the actress, wrote the “script”, threw together the production and edited it all in a matter of days. That’s pretty awesome.

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Pippa Middleton and James Matthews leave annual service at St Luke's Church in London

Photos courtesy of Peloton, Aviation Gin.

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63 Responses to “Peloton Wife left her husband (and the Peloton) and got drunk on Aviation Gin”

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  1. Lee says:

    Ryan has a great marketing team, for sure.

  2. Eugenie says:

    Idk I still think one of the problems with the Peloton commercial is that the actress really didn’t convey what the ad was trying to do. I think the ad was going for an “aw shucks / you shouldn’t have” and it just didn’t come across well.
    This ad is really clever, I got a good laugh at it, but her expression is kinda the same as the Peloton commercial, which I know is probably the point. I just think she might not have a wide range of facial expressions

    • emmy says:

      It’s not her fault. There was an entire marketing team and a director and an editor etc. who apparently thought she nailed it. If the concept stinks, it stinks.

      This does not stink, this is frickin genius and someone deserves a raise.

      • Eugenie says:

        I wonder if it’s not more of the fact they already spent a lot of money of this ad and they had to release it. I compare it to a bad movie. There are movies that with bad acting, movie still gets released because of everyone has been paid, contracts etc

      • emmy says:

        A commercial that affects your stock is not worth it. Even on movies actors are re-cast because during shooting it turns out they just cannot deliver. If your product belongs in the luxury category and you’re a listed company, you re-cast the actor. Imagine J. Lo showing up for Hustlers and suddenly she has gained 30 lbs. That wouldn’t happen but… you know.

        I don’t disagree that this was probably not what they were going for but she is consistent during the commercial. Somebody should have told her then.

      • noway says:

        The stock price went down, but then bounced back quite a bit. A few day blip isn’t really a big deal. Plus apparently people are talking about it and looking at the peloton bike according to retail experts, and I bet sales will be up when Christmas sales are reported. As most ad executives will tell you they couldn’t buy this much hype if they tried. Sure Ryan’s Aviation gin ad has the added benefit of being not only hyped, funny, and now the socially acceptable ad. It will definitely get some bang for that, but the original angry hype on Peloton will get the most.

        The peloton ad was stupid and dumb like a lot of the Christmas ads, and yes it had the added dimension of being sexist, although pretty sure that wasn’t their intention. Honestly these type of ads should stay with cars and Lexus in particular as they seem to be the ones who do it best and stay away from the crap. You notice the Lexus gift ads stick politically correct. You see man giving woman, woman giving man, various ethnicities, etc. A bit surprised Peloton ad was so jaded in stereotype, and I would go against type and do girl giving to man honestly. Maybe mostly women buy their product, but I think the women would get that. Still would have been stupid, but better. Still watch cause we will see what most publicity experts know there really is no such thing as bad publicity. Peloton will have a good Christmas season.

    • Ana says:

      Oh yes, blame it on the woman, and why not throw in there her probable latina background which should be at fault too. Nevermind the husband’s well played stereotypical white dominant privileged man telling his wife what to do all the time.

      • Eugenie says:

        I’m sorry you got that from my comment, that isn’t what I was saying at all. I agree the ad is horrible and she looks like a hostage. I’m not shaming her, but honestly if you saw a bad movie with a bad actress, would you say she was a bad actress? That’s all I’m saying . I think the acting in it wasn’t great. And yes I’m saying that about the actor too. Whoever directed him to look like a serial killer was just wrong.

      • Lilian says:

        Ana calm yourself dude. Not every critism is about race.

      • (The OG)@Jan90067 says:

        The actor (husband) has put out, jokingly or not, that he is afraid of being stereotyped as an abusive douche. So they ALL know.

        Also, directors are the ones that tell the actors how they want the scene played. I lay it there, and the company as the final say. How some idiot at Peloton though this was GOOD…smh

      • Cindy says:

        You’re literally the only person in this whole thread who has brought up her race.

    • Laura says:

      I agree, I think it had a lot to do with her eyebrows and not great acting. I also don’t think the ad was as bad as all the outrage surrounding it.

    • Mtec says:

      @Eugenie
      I disagree, I think the ad was actually going for her looking scared of the challenge but eventually overcoming it and feeling good about it. That’s why they had her struggling with the exercises at first. I definitely think she was directed to look worried and scared. Not the actor’s fault she got bad direction and that the idea of the ad and scenario was so terribly thought out. If the director/producers had hated her expressions, trust me she would not have been cast in the first place, or they would have had her do different expressions and line reads on set and chosen one of those million takes they do for commercials and used those instead.

      • Original Jenns says:

        But I do think there’s a difference between scared=nervous and scared=scary/terrified. I don’t think she was able to make that difference. However, i blame most of it on the writing, as they could have easily made it clear this was a woman who wanted to do this and create this habit and was just daunted at the challenge, regardless of her expression (it’s the eyebrows for me).

      • Trashaddict says:

        I have a much more devious thought. I really good actress playing it right could have “acted the part wrong” on purpose since she knew the concept was so shit. The more I think about that scenario, the more I like it.
        Ah. Revenge is sweet.

    • Mego says:

      Naw she’s good. The concept and direction was awful.

      • Bettyrose says:

        ITA! And I love that she has the same terrified look here, only this time it’s the fear of starting a new life. But she’s got this and her friends know it. Love it!

      • Kate says:

        Yeah I just played out the ad in my head with say Jennifer Anniston and while I think she could have nailed the ‘scared of the challenge but now I’m enjoying myself’ part of it, the whole playing the compilation for the husband at the end and waiting for his reaction I cannot envision a way that would not come off as super submissive and weird.

  3. Jerusha says:

    Given the wit of Ryan’s “feud” with Hugh Jackman, I wouldn’t be surprised if he came up with the idea. But, whoever did, it’s very amusing.

  4. Eva says:

    Ok that’s pretty genious.

  5. Lisa says:

    This was pretty genius.

  6. Ok, I will officially forgive him for Green Lantern

  7. Originaltessa says:

    Although this is funny, her acting in the Peloton commercial really is a huge part of the problem with it. I really doubt they told her to act terrified and like she was being held hostage.

    • Cindy says:

      True, but at the same time that commercial was being directed by someone. I don’t think they instructed her to look terrified, but they could’ve told her to look a little more… calm.

      That ad was the TV spot equivalent of Suicide Squad, basically. Not a single person involved in it’s production did a good job.

      • Originaltessa says:

        Yeah, no of course it’s ultimately the directors, editors, producers’ fault… I know that. But I also think she put in a crap acting performance. No one told her to seem like a scared terrified deer. That was her choice. They let her go with it, clearly, and here we are.

    • Eugenie says:

      Agree 100% and that’s what I was trying to say in my comment above. Do we really believe the entire Paloton team agreed to an ad where there was a terrified woman in it, and nervous around her husband.

      • SofiasSideEye says:

        They did actually because that’s what we ended up seeing. I mean, people with huge budgets don’t take chances on an actor’s interpretation.

    • Mtec says:

      @Original Tessa
      I respectfully disagree. I’ve worked on commercial sets, and they make the actors do the same thing and repeat the same lines over and over and over again (until it drives everyone crazy lol), and direct the actors to try the lines and expressions in different ways. To me, the point they tried to make with the ad was that exercising is a challenge she must face to eventually gain personal gratification/confidence. To me, it’s clear she was directed to look concerned and like she was scared of the challenge, and in the “videos” she recorded for her husband (barf) at first she seemed she was struggling, only to later overcome it and seem happy with the achievement. So to me, it’s 100% the director’s and producer’s fault that they have her looking all worried and struggling throughout the add. If they didn’t want that they would have told her to look happy and excited and confident with it. Commercial actors don’t get much leeway to interpret a character the way they want, they very much have to fit a certain mold and ideal, and she fitted theirs. The problem was that they had the wrong idea.

    • girl_ninja says:

      So why didn’t the director address that? Isn’t that the point of direction?

  8. Spicecake38 says:

    Lol,I saw this yesterday and was waiting for you to cover it!Clever indeed!

  9. minx says:

    Very funny, and I’m impressed by how quickly they got it out.

  10. Cindy says:

    That thing about Peloton Husband’s statement makes me really uncomfortable. Why can’t people just complain about things nowadays? Why must it always be taken to another level? The commercial was awful yeah but he didn’t appear in it for more than 6 seconds and I doubt he had any creative input in it.

    • Esmom says:

      I agree, he needs to calm down. I wouldn’t recognize him if he brushed past me on the street anyway.

      Even worse to me are the people screaming on Twitter about how the “libs” are so “triggered” by the commercial. No idea how this became a left versus right thing. So now they’re encouraging people to buy the bike…to own the libs, I guess. Only in the Trump era.

      • Cindy says:

        I saw that too. Social media is so scary. I just don’t get it, can’t you just say the ad was bad, laugh about it, and not buy the product? I feel like everything escalates so quickly nowadays.

    • Kco says:

      He probably responded to this commercial because he too is looking for his 15 mins of fame. He wants exactly what his Pelaton Wife has, and that’s a 2nd national commercial, running simultaneously. $$$ He probably thinks that someone is going to offer him some “rebuttal” commercial role too.

  11. Insomniac says:

    I don’t even like Ryan Reynolds, but that’s hilarious.

    But I hope people aren’t actually blaming the actors for the script of the original commercial. Good grief.

  12. Stef says:

    Lol i finally watched the commercial and I dont really see anything wrong. I mean if I was into fitness or something, that would be a good present. Maybe face expression at the end was weird.🤷‍♀️

  13. Allergy says:

    This is really funny! Give me that gin.

    • Tulip says:

      Right? Heck, at this point hand over both. The exercise machine will help me justify the gin calories over the holidays. Merry Christmas!😅

  14. eto says:

    Hey that’s the girl from America’s Next Top model who has lupus in the gin ad!! Mercedes!!

  15. Rapunzel says:

    The husband’s smug face at the end was the real prob to me. Look at the bottom pic in this post. She’s looking for his approval. That’s what made it bad to me.

  16. Mego says:

    Bravo Ryan – this looks like something he would come up with.

  17. Ally says:

    The actor playing the husband posted the gin ad on his Instagram and wrote something like: “honey, aren’t you coming home tonight?”

    Very meta.

    Also, alcohol is the male actor lifestyle brand equivalent, I guess.

  18. Cassandra says:

    LOVE IT.

    I hope she gets a nice career boost from all this nonsense

  19. Charfromdarock says:

    Very clever and quick turnaround!

  20. Adrien says:

    We all thought she was being taken hostage in the Peloton ad and it turns out she really has an anxious facial expression. I feel sorry for this woman, it’s not her fault the copywriting was bad. It’s also not her fault she got cast. She did her best. They ad company should have given the role to an enthusiastic looking actress and not someone who looks perpetually dreaded even when happy.

  21. Katinka says:

    I thought it was quite clever/fun that her friend tells her „you look really good btw“ when the aviation bottle is shown 🙂

    • Katinka says:

      Like, I see what you’re doing there, guys.. but I liked it anyway. Finally someone making her feel good about herself, and they’re conferring that to the gin

  22. Prairiegirl says:

    Totally going out to buy that gin this holiday season.

  23. Jessica Belcher says:

    This is going to be the best thing I have seen all week!!!!

  24. Bread and Circuses says:

    This is great. Ryan Reynolds is a genius when it comes to this sort of marketing; I’m pretty sure a lot of Deadpool’s viral marketing comes directly from his crazed brain.

    And I’ve been thinking: all they needed to do with the original Peloton ad was make it seem like the bike was something she wanted. E.g. At the beginning, have the husband say, “Honey, I think you’re perfect, but I know you have goals, so…” and then have her squeal over the bike.

    As it is, it looks like he’s giving *himself* the gift of a more bangable-looking wife, and she’s whipped enough to try to pander to his desires, so of course it’s gross.

  25. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    Brilliant. This will be nominated. Very Mailchimpy. Fast. Efficient use of current demographics then hitting a home run expanding the base. Am I thinking about an exercise bike now or a very specific bottle of gin? It ticks all the advertising gift boxes…’tis the season indeed.

  26. Renee says:

    That’s it, I’m going as the Peloton lady for Halloween next year.