Peloton lost $942million market value in a single day after its holiday advertisement sparked fierce social media backlash.
The exercise equipment company was vilified Monday over the commercial titled ‘The Gift That Gives Back’, which shows a woman receiving a stationary bike from her husband on Christmas morning. She then documents her year-long fitness journey in a series of selfie clips that she compiles into a thank you video for her husband.
Viewers trashed the ad on Twitter, calling it sexist, misogynistic, humiliating and cringeworthy.
Peloton Interactive Inc’s stock fell 9.12 percent on Tuesday, and analysts attributed the drop to negative publicity over the ad.
The decline – which was Peloton’s biggest single-day loss since October – erased nearly $942million from the company’s market value, bringing its market cap to about $9.4billion, according to Markets Insider.
Peloton lost nearly $942million in market value a single day after its holiday advertisement sparked fierce social media backlash
The offending commercial shows a woman receiving a stationary bike from her husband on Christmas morning and then documenting her year-long fitness journey in a series of selfie clips that she compiles into a thank you video for her husband. Viewers trashed the ad on Twitter, calling it sexist, misogynistic, and cringeworthy
Peloton Interactive Inc’s stock fell 9.12 percent on Tuesday – as seen in the graph above. Analysts attributed the drop to negative publicity over the ad
Raymond James analyst Justin Patterson told Bloomberg that the backlash and Peloton’s response are ‘worth monitoring’ and said he expects the company to stop running the commercial.
Peloton shares had risen steadily through November in anticipation of a strong holiday season, but now appear to have gone into reverse over the ad controversy.
The company had gained almost 10 percent at the end of last week after strong Black Friday sales.
Peloton shares closed at $36.84 on Monday and plummeted to a low of $33.35 by 3pm Tuesday.
On Wednesday morning shares opened at $34.02, a gain of just over two percent.
The offending ad, which was released last month, opens with a woman gasping in shock and exclaiming ‘A Peloton’ when she spots the $2,245 exercise bike under the tree on Christmas morning.
She films herself using the bike and working out over the next year in what emerges to be a video she makes for her husband to thank him for the gift.
The commercial ends with the couple sitting down on the couch to watch the video, which culminates with her saying: ‘A year ago, I didn’t realize how much this would change me. Thank you.’
The commercial shows the woman recording her workouts throughout the year in a video that she makes to thank her husband for the gift
The commercial ends with the couple sitting down on the couch to watch the video of her workout journey, which culminates with her saying: ‘A year ago, I didn’t realize how much this would change me. Thank you’
Social media users panned the video online, charging that it implies a husband will get a more attractive wife in return for giving her the exercise bike
Social media users panned the video online, charging that it encourages negative stereotypes and implies that a husband will get a more attractive wife in return for giving her the exercise bike.
One critic tweeted: ‘The woman is rail thin already and her a****** husband thinks she’s still not thin enough.’
‘Nothing says ”Maybe you should lose a few pounds” like gifting your already rail-thin partner a Peloton,’ another wrote.
‘Hands up if the Peleton Christmas ad made you sick in your mouth a little bit AND resolve never to be ”that guy” in a relationship?’ a third wrote.
The outcry over the advertisement was so strong that ‘Peloton’ was trending on Twitter for several hours on Monday.
A parody of the commercial went viral, racking up more than twice as many views as the original.
Peloton has not returned DailyMail.com’s requests for comment.
Twitter users descended on to the site in a frenzy to show their disdain for the advert