Peloton’s “The Gift That Gives Back” Campaign

A Journey into the Past, or Just Tone-Deaf Marketing?

Ah, Christmas 2019. A time when the world was cosying up to their Christmas trees, tucking into som mince pies, and watching in awe as Peloton gifted us a marketing disaster that will echo through the halls of advertising history. The ad titled “The Gift That Gives Back” was Peloton’s attempt at holiday cheer, but it ended up as a gift that gave back…awkwardness, mockery, and a good ol’ stock plummet.

Note:

This article features content from the Marketing Made Clear podcast. You can listen along to this episode on Spotify:

The Peloton 2019 Christmas Advert

For those unfamiliar with the now infamous ad, here’s a quick recap: A young lady receives a Peloton bike from her husband as a Christmas gift (lucky her!). She nervously documents her fitness journey over the following year, showcasing her dedication to becoming a newer, fitter version of herself.

Sounds inspiring, right? Except it didn’t land quite that way with consumers! Probably due to the title which provides some awful context to the ad “The Gift That Gives Back”…. come onnnnnn Peloton :(

Instead, the campaign was seen as a textbook case of “car crash marketing.” It was tone-deaf, sexist, and had all the warmth of a 19th-century corset commercial. Viewers questioned why this already fit woman needed a high-tech exercise bike, particularly as a gift from her husband. It was as if Peloton had found a dusty manual from the 1800s titled: “How to Tell Your Wife She Needs to Stay Slim Without Saying It Out Loud.” Again – the title of the ad helped make this clear…

The backlash? Let’s just say it hit faster than the calorie burn on a Peloton workout. Social media erupted, dragging Peloton through the digital mud. Tweets rolled in with the same level of contempt one might have for receiving diet pills in a Christmas stocking. Critics slammed the underlying message, which seemed to scream, “Merry Christmas, honey! Here’s a bike so I can enjoy that body of yours.” Subtle.

“The Gift That Keeps on Backfiring”

At the core of the outrage was the ad’s cringe-worthy implication: The wife was already in shape, so what exactly was this bike meant to fix? Her self-esteem? Her perceived lack of fitness in the eyes of her husband? The ad framed her as someone needing approval, documenting every ride with a mixture of anxiety and desperation for validation. Who wouldn’t be unsettled by her wide-eyed look of relief when she finally says, “A year ago, I didn’t know how much this would change me”?

That’s just scratching the surface of the debate on sexually objectifying women which is within the genre that we are talking about here… Didn’t we leave that behind in the 40’s? Or the 50’s??

Let’s be honest, the only thing that changed was Peloton’s stock price, downwards. Fast. I know this only too well as I held a small holding of Peloton shares at the time and suddenly saw them tank! (never accept financial advice from me when it comes to stocks and shares, I have an awful track record).

If their goal was to get people talking, well, mission accomplished. But not in the way they had planned.

The backlash went viral, leaving Peloton scrambling to defend their vision, insisting the ad was about empowerment. But it was too late. The damage was done. Their stock dropped by nearly 10%, shaving off about $1.5 billion of their market value within days. Merry Christmas, indeed.

A Gift from the 1800s?

This commercial felt like something straight out of the Victorian era when gifts were less about personal joy and more about fixing a “flaw.” I’m half-surprised the husband didn’t also gift her a fainting couch and smelling salts after each ride. The idea that a woman’s worth is measured by how fit she is—and that fitness should be a gift from her husband, no less – sounds like marketing that belongs in a dusty attic next to hoop skirts and whale-bone corsets.

I get it, Peloton wanted to ride the wave of self-improvement marketing that floods the holiday season. But instead of selling a lifestyle of health and wellness, they inadvertently handed us an archaic trope: that women should feel lucky to receive tools to “better themselves” from their male partners. It’s like buying your wife sexy lingerie and pretending it’s for her. Spoiler alert: it’s not. It’s about the thinly veiled idea that the gift is more for the husband’s enjoyment than for the wife’s well-being.

“Tone-Deaf on Two Wheels”

One might say this was Peloton’s first fall off the proverbial bike, with no proper training wheels in sight. Up until that fateful Christmas ad, Peloton was soaring. They were the darling of the fitness world, known for sleek bikes, engaging instructors, and a strong, loyal community. But like many brands, they tripped over their own pedals by losing touch with their audience’s reality.

Tone-deaf marketing is nothing new, but Peloton’s mishap felt like they had taken off the blindfold, threw it into the wind, and then decided to steer straight into a cliff. Did anyone in their boardroom stop and think, “Hey, maybe that slogan isn’t particular tasteful, or maybe it degrades the users of our product” Clearly not.

The thing is, the concept of gifting fitness isn’t inherently bad, it’s the execution that went horribly awry. As one Twitter user aptly put it: “Nothing says ‘maybe you should lose a few pounds’ like gifting your already fit wife a Peloton.” It’s like someone giving you deodorant for Christmas and insisting it’s not because you smell (hey, wait this happens to me all the time!).

In the end, “The Gift That Gives Back” turned out to be the gift that kept on backfiring. It’s a shining example of what happens when brands forget to think about their audience, or when they try to push a message that sounds like it’s been pulled from a bygone era.

Peloton might’ve been trying to sell fitness, but what they delivered was a masterclass in how to miss the mark—by a mile. Maybe next Christmas, they’ll stick to something safer, like, I don’t know, a gift card. Or better yet, ask their wives what they actually want. Now, that would be revolutionary.