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People Trashed That Peloton Ad So Much That Its Stock Fell Almost 10%

The Peloton Bike holiday ad was ruthlessly mocked on social media.

It seems that the wrath of angry tweeters has made a dent in Peloton’s stock.

The exercise equipment company drew mockery this week for its holiday ad, which shows a fictional woman’s yearlong journey to fitness ― documented via selfie-videos ― after receiving a surprise Peloton exercise bike from her partner. She and her partner then sit down on the couch together and view the selfie journey on TV as she thanks him for changing her life.

Viewers took to Twitter to dunk on the video, which many described as “cringeworthy,” “ridiculous” and even reminiscent of a scene from a horror movie. Peloton trended on the platform Monday as users piled on, and a viral parody of the commercial garnered more than double the views of the original ad on YouTube. (The parody had 3.4 million views Tuesday night, while the original was at 1.6 million.)

On Tuesday, the company’s stock was down 9.12%, which stock analysts saw as a response to negative publicity over the ad. Just before the weekend, Peloton Interactive Inc. had reportedly gained almost 10%, after seeing strong Black Friday sales.

Justin Patterson, an analyst at Raymond James, told Bloomberg that the backlash over the ad and Peloton’s response are worth monitoring. He expects the ad to be pulled, Bloomberg reported.

Investment adviser site The Motley Fool suggested that Peloton shares had risen steadily through November in anticipation of a strong holiday season only to go into reverse following the ad controversy.

Peloton did not immediately return HuffPost’s request for comment.

The original ad, titled “The Gift That Gives Back,” can be viewed below.

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