A customer shopping at a Peloton studio in New York City. Peloton and its model of on-demand video cycling classes has come under fire after the release of a new commercial that has been criticised by some as sexist and classist. — AFP
For consumer brands and companies in 2019, the Internet has laid bare two bewildering realities: It’s nearly impossible to stay out of politics. And when there is even a hint of political controversy, the outrage machine will spin itself into high gear.
In the last year, hardly a week went by without some company – big or small, famous or obscure – finding itself at the center of a storm of online outrage: Most recently it was Peloton Interactive Inc for a TV ad some saw as sexist. Last month, it was the restaurant chain Chick-fil-A Inc for announcing that its charity would no longer make donations to organisations that had been criticized as anti-gay. Months earlier, it was Walmart Inc for changing its ammunition sales policy after a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas. Before that, it was the boutique exercise chain SoulCycle answering for a major shareholder holding a fundraiser for US President Donald Trump. In June, it was Wayfair Inc, for selling furniture that ended up in a migrant detention center. In January, it was Gillette for running ads about toxic masculinity.
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