Peloton Fired Back At 'Billions' After Another Heart Attack Scare With One Of Its Bikes
And just like that, Peloton is doing damage control again.
It seems like Peloton's PR headaches are far from over.
Just when the fitness brand was starting to recover from the bike-related death of Sex and the City's Mr. Big in And Just Like That, another show has used the company's products to nearly kill a character.
Mike "Wags" Wagner, played by David Costabile, had viewers of the Showtime series Billions tilting their heads as he suffered a near-fatal incident after taking a ride on a Peloton bike in the latest episode.
The series made its return to the screen on Sunday for season 6, and the Peloton moment caused a major stir on social media, where many compared it to the death of Mr. Big (Chris Noth).
Mr. Big dies in the first episode of And Just Like That after suffering a heart attack on his Peloton bike. The fictional death triggered a real-world backlash against Peloton, and the company rushed to make a clap-back ad afterward.
Fast-forward to late January and Billions nearly pulled the same move — and Peloton was not impressed.
@onepeloton Peloton and Tunde getting some love on the new @SHO_Billions episode. But why is he having a heart attack after doing a class? It must be Tunde\u2019s counting.#pelotonpic.twitter.com/JikQRYSGIi— Pouchon \ud83c\udded\ud83c\uddf9 (@Pouchon \ud83c\udded\ud83c\uddf9) 1642959244
"@Showtime's use of the Peloton Bike & reference to a #Peloton Instructor was NOT brand, product, or instructor placement. We did not agree for our Brand/IP to be used on @SHO_Billions," said Dara Treseder, Peloton's head of global marketing and communications in a tweet.
Peloton also replied with a statement on its Twitter account, explaining that it did not agree with its brand or its instructors' mention to be portrayed in the show while reiterating the health benefits that riding a Peloton bike could bring.
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.— Peloton (@Peloton) 1642967790
In the Billions episode, Wags survives his Peloton incident and jokingly tells his staff "I'm not going out like Mr. Big."
The New York Times reported that the line was recently added during post-production and that it was the only change newly made to the script.
In other words, Billions did the Peloton scene before Mr. Big's on-screen death, much to the chagrin of the fitness company.