Sex and the City’s Samantha Jones once said there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but after this weekend, Peloton might be inclined to disagree.
The brand has once again found itself in a PR nightmare after another television show featured a character suffering a heart attack after using one of Peloton’s stationary bicycles. On Friday, the season 6 premiere of Showtime’s Billions saw a prominent character rushed to the hospital with chest pains after riding a Peloton bike. The episode aired just weeks after Mr. Big’s shocking, Peloton-induced death in the series premiere of HBO Max’s Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That…
Unlike Chris Noth’s And Just Like That… character, Mike “Wags” Wagner, played by David Costabile on Billions, survived his cardiac event. He even made a nod to the déjà vu of it all, saying in the episode, “I’m not going out like Mr. Big.” The New York Times reported that the parallel plots were completely coincidental, with Billions wrapping months before the Sex and the City reboot premiered, but the winking reference was added in post-production.
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Nonetheless, Peloton does not seem pleased with the now-recurring messaging of its machines posing a health risk to middle-aged prestige TV characters. On Sunday, the brand took to Twitter to respond.
“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,” the tweet read. “As the show itself points out, cardio-vascular exercise helps people lead long, happy lives.”
It’s understandable why Peloton would be concerned about the latest potential blow to its brand. After the And Just Like That… twist, Peloton shares plummeted. At the time, the popular fitness company claimed it knew HBO planned to use a Peloton bike in the episode but had no information about the context. The company also released a statement from a doctor blaming Mr. Big’s death on his “extravagant lifestyle–including cocktails, cigars, and big steaks,” and his increased risk of death from an earlier cardiac scare in Sex and the City.
Peloton’s attempt to get in on the joke by resurrecting Mr. Big in a holiday commercial featuring Noth backfired spectacularly when, just four days later, the actor was accused by two women of sexual assault in an explosive Hollywood Reporter article. Two more women have since come forward with allegations against Noth, which he has vehemently denied.
Doing damage control of their own damage control, Peloton swiftly pulled the ad with Noth, but not before it went viral and racked up millions of views.
Where to Watch Billions: SHOWTIME
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