“Law & Order: SVU” star Christopher Meloni is celebrating National Nude Day in a new ad for Peloton.
“Apparently, some people think the way I work out is strange,” he says at the beginning of the video as he lifts weights in the nude. “Honetly, I don’t get it.”
In the montage of censored nude shots of Meloni completing these exercises, a dog barks at him as he runs by in public, translating to an onscreen caption of “Wow! He really does have a great App!”
The ad is a play on a recent interview with People in which Meloni revealed that he prefers to work out nude at his home gym.
Actor and entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds’ marketing company Maximum Effort apparently seized on this revelation, as they’re the production company behind the ad which closes with a “Law & Order” gag in which a deep voiceover says, “In the Peloton community, users are represented by two separate, yet equally motivated groups: Those who wear pants… and Christopher Meloni.”
While many know Meloni for his dramatic work on “Law & Order,” he has long been a goofy comedic performer with memorable roles in films like “Wet Hot American Summer” and “They Came Together.”
This new ad comes months after Peloton got a lot of unwanted attention due to the death of a popular “Sex and the City” character who appeared in the “And Just Like That” HBO Max series.
Mr. Big (Chris Noth) died in the show following a vigorous Peloton workout, and questions arose around the brand’s health risks, specifically with their iconic bike machine.
“And Just Like That” boss Michael Patrick King responded a Peloton spokesperson’s comments — and he agrees with most of what they said.
“First of all, it’s true. The Peloton can lengthen your life,” King said when TheWrap paraphrased the comments Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum gave on behalf of Peloton. In part, she suggested Mr. Big (Chris Noth) died due to his lifestyle choices and not his stationary bike workout, adding, “Riding his Peloton bike may have even helped delay his cardiac event.”
“Secondly, Big was on a Peloton to prove that he was current and life-affirming. I put Peloton in the show the same way I would put Gucci in the show, because that’s what is happening right now in life,” King continued. “I have a Peloton; people have Pelotons. It’s just always reflecting where society is now. So that’s why it’s in. It’s true. It’s where people are. The death is a fiction; the Peloton is reality.”
