An American company has collapsed on the stock market due to Sex and the City. It is Pelotoncompany that produces High-end home exercise bike. The day the sequel to the famous TV series was released shares plunged 11,3% and in the next sitting they have lost another 5%. The reason? Before explaining it, it is a must a spoiler alarm: enthusiasts who don't want to ruin the twist stop reading here.
Are you still there? So let's move on: Peloton stock plummeted because Mr big – the most famous male character of the series – dies of a heart attack after using one of the American company's stationary bikes. The tragic event occurs in the first episode of the new season – Sex and the City (And just like that…), visible in Italy on Sky and NowTv – and shocked millions of viewers. The shock, however, was not enough to distract attention from the Peloton brand, clearly visible to all. The stationary bike kills Mr. Big, the great love of the protagonist Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), and immediately the emails go out to stock traders: sell, sell, sell.
To run for cover, the company has issued the statements of a cardiologist: “Sex and the City fans like me are certainly saddened by the news that Mr. Big died of a heart attack – begins Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum sympathetically – Mr. Big has always had what many would define a life of excess, made up of cocktails, cigars and large steaks, and was at serious risk of a heart attack having had a previous heart event in the sixth season of the series. These lifestyle choices and possibly her family history, which is often a significant factor, were the probable cause of her death. Riding her Peloton Bike might even have helped delay the heart attack.” Other than a killer stationary bike.
Too bad that, in marketing, the emotional impact counts more than anything else. And so the company finds itself associated with one of the most negative episodes in the entire history of Sex and the City (which, incidentally, began a geological era ago: in 1998). The production house HBO notified Peloton that would have shown one of their products, but without specifying in what context. The writers of the series must have guessed that such a development could cause trouble, so they got another central character – Miranda – to say that surely the stationary bike “is not responsible” for Mr Big's death. A justification that, however, she did not hold up on the stock market.
Over the weekend, then, Peloton relaunched by publishing a commercial in which the actor who plays Mr Big, Chris Noth, is alive and happy. In the end, a voice-over reassures everyone: "He's alive".
