You might have heard that HBO Max recently launched its Sex and the City reboot called And Just Like That. The show dives right back into the characters’ lives 15 years later.

And, you might have heard [SPOILER ALERT] that Mr. Big, one of the larger-than-life characters on the show dies of a heart attack after riding his Peloton. For those who are not familiar with the Peloton brand, they are a line of fitness products (treadmill and bike) that offer live and on-demand classes that approximate the experience of taking a class in the studio.

As a frequent Peloton rider, watcher of the show, and marketer who understands product placement, when this moment happened, I immediately wondered whether Peloton knew their product would be used in this less than aspirational way.

Mind you, Peloton has been part of the cultural Zeitgeist for a few years now. In 2019, their Holiday ad created uproar because in it, a husband bought his wife a Peloton as a surprise. (While I thought the ad and acting was a bit cringey, I personally never had an issue with the ad. I was given my Peloton as a surprise gift, and it’s truly the gift that keeps on giving.) Capitalizing on the uproar, Ryan Reynolds comes in with this ad for Aviator Gin, poking fun at the whole situation by featuring the actress from the Peloton ad. It was a pretty masterful move on Ryan Reynolds’ part, and might have gotten more attention and interest than the original “bad” Peloton ad.

Fast forward to 2021. After watching And Just Like That, I immediately go to Google to find out whether Peloton knew that their product would be used in this way. Apparently, they did not. Unfortunately, a situation like this in a fictional show can have a very real impact on a brand. Peloton, a publicly traded company, saw a significant stock price drop on the day following the premiere.

But what happened next was magical.

The show premiered on a Thursday. By Sunday, a new ad featuring the deceased Mr. Big plus the instructor I know as Jess King (her character had a different name on the show) are sitting on the couch in a cozy room. “To new beginnings,” says Big. “To new beginnings.” says Jess King.

Big is alive, feels great, and ready to take another ride, because, as a familiar-sounding voice says, “And Just Like That, the world is reminded that … cycling reduces your risk of cardiovascular diseases.”

I saw this ad on social media on Sunday and was confused, thinking, “I thought Peloton didn’t know about Big dying? Did they know all the time? This ad is two days later, there’s no way they could have pulled off a response ad this fast! Who is that voice - it sounds so familiar”.

So, I turned to social media to see if I could find out the story. Turns out, Peloton seized the moment, got to work, created a response ad in 48 hours, and even poked a little fun at themselves by getting Ryan Reynolds to do the voiceover.

Masterful.

According to Dara Treseder, the SVP, Head of Global Marketing and Communications at Peloton (@daratreseder), via her Instagram post, they pulled this ad together in 8 hours with the help of Ryan Reynolds, his production company, and Chris Noth (the actor who plays Mr. Big). See the post below.

My favorite part? She also announces in this post that Peloton was offering a discount, free delivery and setup AND the bike would arrive by Christmas, ending the post with, “Enjoy the lemonade. 😘”

Again, masterful.

To recap:

Potentially damaging content featuring the product in a less than optimal way premieres on a Thursday, catching Peloton unaware.

Dara and her team immediately get to work thinking about how to respond or fix it.

In less than 48 hours, over a WEEKEND IN DECEMBER, they get two major stars, a studio, a script, a production company all lined up to shoot an ad and edit it, and then launch it on SUNDAY NIGHT. Just for reference, in normal times, ads like this take months to create and produce.

Dara and her team saw the need to respond to the situation NOW. They moved mountains to do it. And they took back over the narrative, making an even bigger splash with a well done ad that even poked a little fun at themselves. And, as the best marketers do, they kept their target audience in mind by giving them an offer that’s truly valuable in the process.

It’s an awe-inspiring story.