Peloton: Brand Damage from Holiday Advertising

Authors
D’Entremont, A.; Ward, J.; O’Rourke, J. S. (editor)
Region
North America
Topic
Marketing & Sales
Strategy & General Management
Length
16 pages
Keywords
social media
Advertising
sexism
Copyright Holder
Notre Dame
Student Price
$4.00
Target Audience
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Students

In preparation for the holiday shopping season, Peloton, a home exercise equipment manufacturer and workout streaming service, created controversy with one of its advertisements in 2019. A number of reactions accused the company of reinforcing sexist stereotypes. The aftermath included a loss of more than $1 billion in market value, social media outcry, and the creation of a number of parodies mocking the Peloton commercial. The company now hopes to rebound from its financial and reputational damage, just before the holiday season.

Learning Outcomes
  1. To highlight how companies inadvertently create and promote advertisements that may be perceived as sexist, and the brand damage caused by such advertisements;
  2. To provide an example of how one company’s perceived sexism in commercial advertising caused damage to its value and created swift repercussions both socially and financially;
  3. To encourage analysis of how brands are intricately tied to financial aspects of the company;
  4. To demonstrate how a corporation’s advertising decisions will be increasingly scrutinized, particularly with the accessibility of social media;
  5. To examine the role of commercial advertising in corporate reputation management.