The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2024–2025
Tonal sold AI fitness by mocking Victorian-era workouts
A black-and-white film drops a woman from absurd antique exercise into Tonal's AI system; the campaign drove a 200% sales increase.
Tonal
the move
Tonal, a smart strength-training system that uses AI to personalize workouts, faced a communication problem: its technology is invisible, and its category was crowded with ads showing the same gym montages. 'Smart fitness' is a claim, not a picture.
Quality Experience and Pulse Films built 'Power Progress' around a striking black-and-white film set in a Victorian-era world. A woman performs absurdly outdated exercises — repetitive kettlebell lifting, manual rowing — in period-accurate sets under a haunting score.
She escapes into Tonal's sleek, AI-powered system, and the tagline lands the point: 'Stop working out in the past.' The satire makes the old way ridiculous and the new way self-evident, with no feature list required.
The film's craft — production design, score, direction — made a two-minute ad feel like cinema, giving a hardware brand the emotional language usually reserved for movies.
why it works
- The Victorian contrast makes 'outdated' visible and funny instead of technical.
- No product explanation is needed; the escape itself carries the argument.
- High-end film craft made a fitness ad stand out as culture, not commerce.
- The humor is shareable, extending the campaign beyond paid media.
what transfers
When your product is invisible technology, show what it replaces; the absurd old way makes the new way obvious.
what came after
The film won a One Show award and D&AD pencils in 2025 and drove a 200% sales increase, positioning Tonal as a premium fitness leader ahead of the Tonal 2 launch.
references
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