Who owns Peloton? Company trolls 'Sex and The City' reboot for killing off Mr Big
Usually, when Ryan Reynolds is involved, you can be sure there's a bit of trolling going on. That certainly seems to be the case with the new advertisement released by Peloton on December 12. The ad pokes fun at 'Sex and the City', after the rebooted TV show used a Peloton bike to kill off a key character Mr Big, played by Chris Noth. Fair to say, it was all just a bit of fun, with social media certainly having a good laugh.
Episode 1 of the rebooted show, titled 'And Just Like That' saw Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw left as a widow, a shocker to fans of the series. It wasn't the only moment fans hated, early reviews left many calling the show "awful" and "woke" after the first two episodes debuted on HBO Max over the previous week. Peloton meanwhile, didn't seem to be too upset about being featured in the show.
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Instead, they decided to use the publicity to their advantage, with help from Ryan Reynolds. The Canadian actor is no stranger to the company, having backed former Peloton ad actress Monica Ruiz in 2019, after her controversial ad for the brand. It's unclear who's genius idea it was to make an ad about the show, but we thought it was a good opportunity to introduce you to CEO and founder - John Foley.
Who is Peloton's owner?
In 2012, John Foley founded Peloton and has served as the CEO since. The company is publicly traded, with 11% owned by the general public, and 5.5% stake owned by private equity firms. But insiders, including Foley, maintain a large percentage of the ownership over the company. After studying engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Foley earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2001.
Since then, he's gone on to work for some of the largest brands in the US like Mars Inc. and Barnes & Noble. Reportedly, he worked for Mars in Waco, Texas to raise money for his degree at Georgia Tech, after earlier spending his youth as an employee of McDonald's in the Florida Keys. Before Peloton, he also founded Pronto and Proust, two internet-based firms. He left both of them in 2010 for Barnes & Noble, but just a few years later decided to try his hand at entrepreneurship again.
Foley is married to fitness enthusiast Jill. The duo shares a love for fitness, with Foley also being a competitive cyclist and triathlete in his spare time. Unlike other tech CEOs, Foley prefers to keep a lower profile, mostly speaking to the media about health and fitness.
Peloton trolls 'Sex and the City'
On December 12, Peloton released their new ad on Instagram, with a voice-over by Reynolds saying, "And just like that... the world was reminded that regular cycling stimulates and improves your heart, lungs, and circulation, thus reducing your risk for cardiovascular diseases," before concluding with a not-so-veiled dig at the show saying "he's alive." Noth is also featured in the ad, as if the trolling couldn't get more obvious.
In response, one user joked, "Peloton was faster with a response than Carrie was with dialing 911." Another said, "This was genius. And I laughed and laughed, and then I shared it with my sisters." One user said, "And just like that, @onepeloton wins the Genius Marketing award for the year." Another replied, "Is this the best ad ever? Abso-f----g-lutely."
Peloton was faster with a response than Carrie was with dialing 911.
— Shep (@ShepHerdsTV) December 12, 2021
This was genius. And I laughed and laughed, and then I shared it with my sisters. https://t.co/vm2lFFq04Z
— HG Tomato 🍅 Wash Your Hands (@HGTomato) December 12, 2021
And just like that, @onepeloton wins the Genius Marketing award for the year.
— Jeannine Henderson (@JeannineOnTheGo) December 12, 2021
There were also a large number of users who thought the ad was in poor taste and slammed Peloton for it. But others seemed to enjoy the mockery, especially since it involved Reynolds. Foley himself contributed to the trolling, tweeting out the ad with the caption "he's alive".