Actor Ryan Reynolds recruited actress Monica Ruiz who appeared in the maligned, mocked, and memed Peloton exercise bike ad for a hilarious commercial for his Aviation Gin brand.
“This gin is really smooth,” one woman sitting to the right of Ruiz says. “We can get you another one?” asks a third woman as the camera pans out, showing the three ladies sitting at a bar.
“You’re safe here,” says one woman, poking fun at the international uproar sparked by the Silicon Valley indoor-cycling commercial. Ruiz, the Peloton ad actress raises her glass, makes a toast “to new beginnings,” then downs the entire glass of gin.
Looking a stunning, one woman says “It’s going to be a fun night.”
Ryan Reynolds has made himself a bit of a parody icon with his starring role as Deadpool, the trash-talking, gunslinging Marvel Comics superhero who the actor famously used to openly mock his past film blunders.
Here, in his gin ad titled “The Gift That Doesn’t Give Back,” Reynolds’ target is obvious: the makers of a Peloton ad that went largely unnoticed after debuting on YouTube in Nov. 21 but was soon met with a wave of social media scorn.
The ad, titled “The Gift That Gives Back,” saw the now-famous actress receive a surprise Peloton bike from her husband for Christmas. She’s elated and spends the next year recording videos of herself exercising on the bike. “A year ago, I didn’t realize how much this would change me” say the actress at the end of the ad. She starts the 30-second spot looking rather thin and didn’t appeared to look any different after a year of riding the luxury brand bike.
The ad was derided as sexist and filled with harmful “heteronormative” tropes that send a damaging message to women that they should strive (in this case, riding a bike for a year) for a physique pleasing to men. Ruiz wasn’t blamed but she was the face of the ad that trigged so many.
Over the weekend, Monica Ruiz issued a statement about the fiasco through her agency, LA Talent.
“I was happy to accept a job opportunity earlier this year from Peloton and the team was lovely to work with. Although I’m an actress, I am not quite comfortable being in spotlight and I’m terrible on social media. So to say I was shocked and overwhelmed by the attention this week (especially the negative) is an understatement,” Ruiz said.
“When Ryan and his production team called about Aviation Gin, they helped me find some humor in the situation. I am grateful to both Peloton and now Aviation Gin for the work and giving me the opportunity to do what I love to do.”
The actor in the Peloton ad, Sean Hunter, rebuked critics who he said accused him of sexism and promoting the patriarchy.
“My image is being associated with sexism, with the patriarchy, with abuse, with these words that I am seeing people write about me — that’s not who I am,” Hunter told Good Morning America.
Actor in the viral #Peloton ad speaks out. “That’s not who I am.” @ReeveWill has more. https://t.co/sMzVDFttxV pic.twitter.com/GflIL7gpD3
— Good Morning America (@GMA) December 6, 2019
Pelton is defending its ad, saying “Our holiday spot was created to celebrate that fitness and wellness journey. While we’re disappointed in how some have misinterpreted this commercial, we are encouraged by — and grateful for — the outpouring of support we’ve received from those who understand what we were trying to communicate.”
Jerome Hudson is Breitbart News Entertainment Editor and author of the bestselling book 50 Things They Don’t Want You to Know. Order your copy today. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson.
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