This has been a strange few months for Peloton.
On the season premiere of Showtime’s Billions, Mike Wagner, known on the show as Wags, played by David Costabile, suffered a mild heart attack after having a session on one of Peloton’s bikes. Sound familiar?
The stationary bike/exercise cult has had a few ups and downs, including causing the death of long-time Sex and the City character, Mr. Big after he had a heart attack on the bike. Peloton quickly jumped in on the joke, making an advertisement starring Mr.Big himself, Chris Noth. The ad was then pulled after sexual assault allegations against Noth surfaced.
Sources close to the show say that it was just a bizarre coincidence, as the series premiere was shot last spring. Though, they did add in a reference to the Sex and the City reboot, with Wags commenting, “I’m not going out like Mr. Big.” Allegedly, the line was added in later.
Peloton is, uh, not pleased with all of the negative publicity the bikes have been getting. The brand tweeted this morning to clear the air, saying “We get TV shows want to include @onepeloton to get people talking, but to be clear, we did *not* agree for our brand or IP to be used on @SHO_Billions or provide any equipment. As the show itself points out, cardio-vascular exercise helps people lead long, happy lives.”
This is yet another thing Peloton has to deal with, as they recently halted production on their viral bikes, due to lack of demand. Maybe they should consider getting some of the Euphoria teens on a bike for some positive press?