Warning: Major spoilers for And Just Like That episode 1 follow.
Sex and the City is back after an 11-year hiatus, and the first episode of the new TV show And Just Like That features a significant production location of a Peloton bike.
Peloton is a fitness brand that offers home gym equipment with instructor-led virtual workouts via a tablet at the end of a stationary bike or treadmill. The brand has a reputation for offering high-end, expensive training equipment, so it would make sense for the Y characters to use the stationary bike.
However, there is a twist to this product placement, as it appears the brand was unaware of the context in which it would be used in the new HBO TV show. Below, we will explain the full history of the Peloton bike in the series and what has happened since the episode first aired.
How does a Peloton bike fit into the plot?
Now we're onto the spoilers: At the end of episode 1 of the new show, Carrie Bradshaw's long-term love interest, the show's star, Mr Big, dies. She has a heart attack and it happens moments after finishing a workout on a Peloton bike.
This doesn't present Peloton's exercise equipment in the best light, and it seems that the brand was unaware of the context in which the bike would be used.
Peloton spokeswoman Denise Kelly told Buzzfeed News that the brand had given the green light to include the products in the series, but the status around their use was unclear.
"HBO got the Peloton bike on their own," Kelly said. “Peloton knew that a bicycle would be used in the episode and that Jess King would play a fictional Peloton instructor.
"For confidentiality reasons, HBO did not disclose in advance the broader context surrounding the scene at Peloton."
Peloton had no idea it would be used that way, and HBO had even provided their own bike for the scene itself. However, HBO reached out to the brand to make sure they could use it in the episode.
The training instructor who appears on the show is named Allegra (this is a plot point in the episode) and is played by famed platoon leader Jess King.
The day after the episode aired, Peloton's stock price fell $5. It's unclear if this plot was the sole culprit, but it appears to have had a significant impact on the brand.
Now a new Peloton ad
Peloton's new Christmas commercial is inspired by the script for And Just Like That. You can check out the commercial above, and the short clip resurrects the Mr. Big character for "another twist."
Chris Noth, the actor who played Mr. Big, appears in the ad alongside Jess King, who plays instructor Allegra. Mr. Big says "To a new beginning" and turns to a pair of Peloton bikes.
He then said, "Should we have another round?" Life is too short not to.
Actor Ryan Reynolds then has a voiceover role immediately after. The announcement was made by Reynolds and his marketing company, Maxmium Effort.
Reynolds says: “And so…the world is reminded that regular cycling stimulates and improves your heart, lungs and circulation, thereby reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease. Cycling strengthens the heart muscles, rests the heart rate and lowers blood fat levels.
It ends with Reynolds saying, "He's alive."
It appears that Peloton shot this ad in record time; The episode in which Mr. Big dies first aired in the United States on December 9, and the commercial debuted on December 12.
In fact, a Peloton representative told LaComparacion that the announcement was made within 48 hours.
If Peloton wasn't privy to the show's intrigues, this is a notable change in the construction of a Christmas marketing campaign, with the ad appearing roughly 72 hours after the show originally aired.
Peloton declined to say if there was a formal product placement agreement for the show, but company statements make it clear that it was unaware of the context in which the bike would be featured.
Whether Peloton will take this story further in its marketing materials remains to be seen, but it's one of the most compelling stories about how product placement can affect real brands.