This whole conversation is so fascinating to me precisely because I had literally never heard of Peloton before AHP started this series--and I don't live under a rock. But it's clearly a huge phenomenon within a certain demographic, just apparently not a demographic that I'm part of. (I mean, I'm a white millennial woman with a master's …
This whole conversation is so fascinating to me precisely because I had literally never heard of Peloton before AHP started this series--and I don't live under a rock. But it's clearly a huge phenomenon within a certain demographic, just apparently not a demographic that I'm part of. (I mean, I'm a white millennial woman with a master's degree, so I would have thought of myself as at least loosely in AHP's demographic, but apparently not.)
I've spent some time wondering why I haven't heard of this thing that's apparently very popular--is it simply a class issue? (I don't make very much money, and neither do most of my friends despite most of us being very well-educated.) Is it because I don't move in social circles that care very much about the wellness industry? Is it because I use Instagram only to look at friends' accounts and see pictures from the Vienna tourist bureau?
It just shows me how much culture has splintered, that AHP can talk about these people who I've never heard of as celebrities. I mean, I was never in the Lululemon demographic back when that was big, but I had at least heard of it. If someone described someone else as a Lululemon hot yoga type, I would know what that meant. I have no idea what a Peloton type is. I never cared about Bachelor/ette reality-star people, but I knew what the shows were and that the people on them were popular, even if I didn't know any of their names.
Is this just me getting older (but I'm only 34!) and thus being less "with it" than I used to be? Or has culture really splintered so much that entire groups of people can be "famous" to some but never heard of by others?
I think it's absolutely a class issue, because only very specific people in my social group have pelotons and they are either gay, rich, or fitness obsessed (or some combination of those three). The pandemic moved a lot of people away from the expensive studio fitness classes into home workouts and peloton was just perfectly positioned to give them what they wanted. When I did classpass with friends (which was my only way of glimpsing this world on my budget) we had favorite instructors whose classes we would fight to get into, many of whom would share their social media usernames so we could follow them and keep track of which studios they worked at, but it's nothing compared to how the social media presence of peloton's instructors have blown up.
As someone who is a lot older than you, I remember being your age and staying with my sister's first kid while she had her second and looking at her copies of US magazine having no idea who the "celebrities" were because they were people from The Hills and Teen Mom and reality shows that I knew nothing about so I am from the future to tell you that as you age there are subcultures that you may miss and be confused when you come upon a gossip magazine at the hairdresser. I would note that one Peloton instructor was in a SuperBowl ad this year, so they have crossed into the ultimate mainstream, and then there was the pre-pandemic viral controversy over the Peloton wife Christmas ad that roiled twitter for a week or so.
I am 20 years older than you and so it would "maybe" be more likely I would be on the outside looking in. But I too do not know a thing about reality star/instagram-ish /tiktok celebrity. I was close to buying a Peloton. Like I was talking to the representative. And then the reports started rolling in about how they were backed up, how people were really frustrated with wait times. I think the product looks amazing. It is like a shiny diamond. For me, working out is meditative. This whole thread is fascinating but I think it confirms why I did not go ahead with the purchase. I want my meditative runs OUTSIDE which is another hit of endorphin. I have a mountain bike and a road bike that will also be outside where I can get my hits of endorphin as I ride through trails. If my bike has a problem, my bike shop will know what to do. Maybe I am being too practical but those workouts are also getaways. The added baggage of the personalities would/could distract from that and that is too high of a price to pay. My movement IS my medicine. I truly am not knocking Peloton. I understand that those workouts are kick-ass and consumers are getting a great workout. But the added baggage of the cult of personality would get in the way for me.
This whole conversation is so fascinating to me precisely because I had literally never heard of Peloton before AHP started this series--and I don't live under a rock. But it's clearly a huge phenomenon within a certain demographic, just apparently not a demographic that I'm part of. (I mean, I'm a white millennial woman with a master's degree, so I would have thought of myself as at least loosely in AHP's demographic, but apparently not.)
I've spent some time wondering why I haven't heard of this thing that's apparently very popular--is it simply a class issue? (I don't make very much money, and neither do most of my friends despite most of us being very well-educated.) Is it because I don't move in social circles that care very much about the wellness industry? Is it because I use Instagram only to look at friends' accounts and see pictures from the Vienna tourist bureau?
It just shows me how much culture has splintered, that AHP can talk about these people who I've never heard of as celebrities. I mean, I was never in the Lululemon demographic back when that was big, but I had at least heard of it. If someone described someone else as a Lululemon hot yoga type, I would know what that meant. I have no idea what a Peloton type is. I never cared about Bachelor/ette reality-star people, but I knew what the shows were and that the people on them were popular, even if I didn't know any of their names.
Is this just me getting older (but I'm only 34!) and thus being less "with it" than I used to be? Or has culture really splintered so much that entire groups of people can be "famous" to some but never heard of by others?
I think it's absolutely a class issue, because only very specific people in my social group have pelotons and they are either gay, rich, or fitness obsessed (or some combination of those three). The pandemic moved a lot of people away from the expensive studio fitness classes into home workouts and peloton was just perfectly positioned to give them what they wanted. When I did classpass with friends (which was my only way of glimpsing this world on my budget) we had favorite instructors whose classes we would fight to get into, many of whom would share their social media usernames so we could follow them and keep track of which studios they worked at, but it's nothing compared to how the social media presence of peloton's instructors have blown up.
As someone who is a lot older than you, I remember being your age and staying with my sister's first kid while she had her second and looking at her copies of US magazine having no idea who the "celebrities" were because they were people from The Hills and Teen Mom and reality shows that I knew nothing about so I am from the future to tell you that as you age there are subcultures that you may miss and be confused when you come upon a gossip magazine at the hairdresser. I would note that one Peloton instructor was in a SuperBowl ad this year, so they have crossed into the ultimate mainstream, and then there was the pre-pandemic viral controversy over the Peloton wife Christmas ad that roiled twitter for a week or so.
I am 20 years older than you and so it would "maybe" be more likely I would be on the outside looking in. But I too do not know a thing about reality star/instagram-ish /tiktok celebrity. I was close to buying a Peloton. Like I was talking to the representative. And then the reports started rolling in about how they were backed up, how people were really frustrated with wait times. I think the product looks amazing. It is like a shiny diamond. For me, working out is meditative. This whole thread is fascinating but I think it confirms why I did not go ahead with the purchase. I want my meditative runs OUTSIDE which is another hit of endorphin. I have a mountain bike and a road bike that will also be outside where I can get my hits of endorphin as I ride through trails. If my bike has a problem, my bike shop will know what to do. Maybe I am being too practical but those workouts are also getaways. The added baggage of the personalities would/could distract from that and that is too high of a price to pay. My movement IS my medicine. I truly am not knocking Peloton. I understand that those workouts are kick-ass and consumers are getting a great workout. But the added baggage of the cult of personality would get in the way for me.