If there’s one word that comes to mind that sums up Peloton’s 2023, it’s “makeover.”  This year ushered in a complete rebranding of the company, moving from their traditional red, black and white color palette to a total embrace of bright vibrant colors. Fitness models and actors were replaced by real Members in ad campaigns, and Peloton on Tour replaced the annual Homecoming event.  So, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense that Peloton had one more makeover up its sleeve, coming in the form of a new version of the annual Cool Down personalized data drop.  

A Glow Up or a Return To Roots?

But, is it really that new?  Or are we just going back to our Peloton OG roots…a little bit, a little bit anyway?  Long-time Members know that we haven’t always had a video delivered to our inboxes at the end of the year (in fact, not even an email to begin with!), but that doesn’t mean we all haven’t come to look forward to receiving our personalized info packaged into a cute, and highly shareable, video.  

Year In Review, a Brief History

Before we talk about this year’s Year In Review, let’s take a trip down Peloton Memory Lane, courtesy of our exclusive TCO Peloton Timeline (which is also a searchable database of Peloton history, fyi!).  The first mention of a Peloton Year In Review that we can dig up comes in the form of a Twitter post made on January 19, 2016.  It features a single image with three pieces of data:  collective time spent working out (given in years), miles traveled, and calories burned over the course of 2015.  In 2017, Members received their 2016 stats, again in January, featuring more individualized data.  

Over the next several years, Peloton continued to build on distributing personalized data within an email and the Year In Review continued to evolve, giving Members insight into things like how many instructors they worked out with, individual achievements paired with fun community facts (like enough KJs being produced by the community as a whole to power the Empire State Building for 19 days!), and other facts about the community as a whole.  As the data grew, and the membership increased, more and more people looked forward to receiving their annual breakdown each year.

The Cool Down Era

In 2020 the Peloton phenomenon exploded and the world shut down.  These two things combined ushered in a new era for the Year In Review, seeing it take on a completely new form with The Cooldown debuting as a video short in 2020.  Spearheaded by freelance animation director Diana Chao, the video, which was delivered to inboxes, delighted Members by turning their fitness efforts into a personalized story, filled with data reflecting their active minutes, favorite Instructors, music choices, milestones, badges, and more. The change came in response to a year of Covid-driven lockdowns, and Peloton created the videos to celebrate the sense of community that developed during that time.  

The Cooldown was such a hit that it made repeat appearances in Members’ inboxes in 2021 and again in 2022.  This December, Members are once again checking inboxes in anticipation of the annual release, only to find that The Cool Down has undergone a change. In place of a video wrap-up, they received a semi-static email, featuring a man doing (what we think is) a dance in front of a Peloton Bike in a warehouse setting.  

The email features an invitation to see “how you showed out,” and a personalized data breakdown of things like workout, calories and mileage/km totals, along with badges earned, a season-themed badge describing your workout personality, personal achievements, the Instructor you worked out with the most (or, in some cases, sleep meditated with the most!), and an invitation to check out Peloton’s progress in their 2023 Impact Report. 

Posts quickly appeared across social media, questioning whether or not this was a precursor to The Cool Down Video or if this was The Cool Down.  Peloton has confirmed that The Cool Down will not be released as a video this year and that the email you received is, in fact, your annual Member wrap-up.  

While we know that there is some disappointment across the community at the change, as evidenced by the angry-face emojis on Peloton’s post, bear in mind that this isn’t that much of a departure from what Peloton has typically produced this time of year, pre-Cool Down videos.  We can’t help but wonder, though: why did it change? Did they just want something new? Is it about cutting costs?  Something else?  As usual, we are left with more questions than answers.

Still Waiting for Your Email?

Peloton is aware that not every Member has received their annual Year In Review email yet and has advised those who are still waiting to open the chatbot on the Peloton website and select “Year In Review” as the reason why you are chatting.  From there, you should be able to go through the necessary steps to receive your email.  

Now that that’s over, and we’re all embracing the new change, shout your achievements from the rooftops!  It’s okay to wish The Cool Down was still around but remember – it doesn’t matter what form your data was delivered in, the hard work was still yours, and that celebration doesn’t (and shouldn’t) change.

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