- Exercise startup Peloton makes high-end stationary bikes – and over-the-top advertising geared toward the affluent.
- Earlier this year, social-media users took to Twitter to poke fun at Peloton’s ads, which typically feature a physically fit person cycling in a luxurious home.
- Peloton filed for its IPO on Tuesday, reporting it generated $915 million in revenue last fiscal year, which ended in June.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Peloton is known for its high-end stationary bikes – and its over-the-top advertising.
The exercise startup filed for its initial public offering on Tuesday, and according to its prospectus, it generated $915 million in revenue its last fiscal year. Peloton first made its name with stationary bikes that connect to a tablet streaming spin classes, making it a kind of at-home SoulCycle. In fact, Peloton overtook SoulCycle in customers last year, according to data company Second Measure.
Peloton’s advertising has also gained notoriety, but for all the wrong reasons. Earlier this year, people took to Twitter to make fun of Peloton’s ads. The glossy marketing campaign featured physically fit users cycling in modern, luxurious homes that often overlook a futuristic metropolis or expansive backyard. Oh, and their Peloton is almost exclusively positioned somewhere in the middle of the room.
One Twitter user saw Peloton’s over-the-top ads as the perfect comedic opportunity.
I put my Peloton bike in the center of the panoramic living room window in my New York penthouse pic.twitter.com/ol0B3Kavif
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
I took my Peloton bike to Europe and used it on the balcony of our $2,000/night Airbnb and honestly I felt like I was flying over London, you should try it pic.twitter.com/sVjdO78MRV
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
I have a Peloton at home, at work, and also one placed by the ocean-facing living room windows of our four bedroom beach cottage pic.twitter.com/F21Y1f7eop
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
Sometimes I’ll move the Peloton bike into our gallery so I can spend time with my half gay husband while he reads Architectural Digest wearing combat boots pic.twitter.com/jdBWowR4z3
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
My Peloton is in the living room because it’s my favorite work of art aside from the turquoise marble peacock I keep in the fireplace. pic.twitter.com/fQyaK7PIjM
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
This is absolutely unacceptable Peloton placement. This appears to be a basement and not a solarium, conservatory, grotto, inglenook, or rumpus room. pic.twitter.com/d5AEv64lnn
— Clue Heywood (@ClueHeywood) January 28, 2019
Other Twitter users quickly followed suit.
I love riding my Peloton in the glass room of my mountain retreat with the tears of thousands of peasants standing on the roof simulating rain - salty rain, but rain nonetheless. pic.twitter.com/tgsAVmcDTK
— The Soup Yahtzee (@cwietz1) January 28, 2019
Even though I have an $85M view of Central Park and the New York City skyline through the floor-to-ceiling windows in my Peloton room, I watch the video screen on my bike.
— ℝ𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕥 (@rdbrewer4) January 29, 2019
https://twitter.com/ryanthink/status/1089928372271177730?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/rosebudbaker/status/1118959081098637312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Despite the comedic Twitter threads, Peloton's marketing team has said the campaigns were intentional and not a joke. In fact, the marketing had been intended for wealthy clientele from the beginning.
"We had this idea of a very affluent rider who many of our early adopters were," Carolyn Tisch Blodgett, Peloton's brand marketing lead, told the Wall Street Journal.