New Peloton ad features fully nude Christopher Meloni
Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss Peloton’s fully nude ad featuring Christopher Meloni as well as the outlook for the company’s expenses and growth.
Video Transcript
[MUSIC PLAYING]
JULIE HYMAN: Well, there's a new ad from Peloton, which has had a series of different provoking, provocative ads. That's Christopher Meloni right there--
BRIAN SOZZI: Oh!
JULIE HYMAN: --with a strategically blurred portion of his anatomy.
BRIAN SOZZI: Oh!
JULIE HYMAN: It features him working out in the nude. Indeed, the 61-year-old lifts weights, holds yoga poses, goes for a run, all of that while in his birthday suit in the ad. Now--
BRIAN SOZZI: Look at him! He's 61. Look at this guy!
JULIE HYMAN: To be clear, we love this ad. That's our cooperative take, I think. But is it going to actually help Peloton? Well, Brian Sozzi's take is on that portion.
BRIAN SOZZI: Trust me, I thought-- whoa! I thought long and hard-- long and hard? No, well, anyway, about sharing this with the team for many obvious reasons. But it ain't my ad. I didn't put this out. You know, I think I keep coming back to this. It is, one, it's good to see Peloton has not lost its creativity. Of course, that viral ad they created, what, over a year ago with the Peloton girl ad omits all of their internal shakeups and layoffs. It's good to see them staying creative.
But something I keep coming back to-- does this really help sell Peloton bikes and eventual rower and a treadmill? It's catchy. It's gone viral. Chris Meloni looks awesome. Hat's tip to him. Whatever he's on or drinks or uses, I want a piece of it. But does it inspire me to buy this equipment? And I'm just not sure of it.
And I go back to what Simeon Siegel, a longtime Peloton bear on Peloton, told me earlier in the week. It's clear the company is still spending to grow. And as long as they're doing that, the profits of this business are likely to stay under wraps, meaning they will produce more losses until they can cut out a lot of expenses. What, Chris Meloni is not doing naked Peloton videos for free. They're having to pay him.
So, again, I appreciate the ad. I appreciate their efforts. There, you can see the stock price anything but going up, down about 90% in the past year. I heard somebody laugh right here. And there's my take right here. You have to cover your eyes when looking at the stock chart, too. It's been an ugly almost two years for this company, but again, Chris Meloni, hat tip to him. He looks amazing. I just-- yeah.
JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, I would argue, yes, that the stock chart is a lot more inappropriate, if you will, than-- oh, he's got the blindfold on. This stock chart's a lot more inappropriate than that ad. That drop, by the way, from the peak of where the shares were, you mentioned more than 90%-- it's 95%. I mean, that stock is almost down all the way. Like, you can't-- from the peak, that is. So, yes, it exhibits humor on the part of the brand, which is always great to see.
What's interesting is in the case of Peloton, maybe you would want to see a little self-referential humor, right? A sort of acknowledgment at the trouble that the company has had on so many different fronts.
BRIAN SOZZI: Can you now-- the real hero here is whoever shot that video because theoretically, he's not wearing any clothes.
JULIE HYMAN: Well, and he makes reference to that, although he could certainly be wearing something. It's blurred out.
BRIAN SOZZI: I can now-- we're all memes. Because now we're looking at this, we may end up going viral.
JULIE HYMAN: Like, do you get extra pay--
BRIAN SOZZI: I'm trying not to look.
JULIE HYMAN: --as a crew member?
BRIAN SOZZI: I'm not-- trying not to look.
JULIE HYMAN: It's blurred out! It's perfectly-- it's perfectly fine.
BRIAN SOZZI: We all know what we're looking for here. I mean, let's just be-- it is what it is.
JULIE HYMAN: He was already famous, by the way, for things before this. All right, coming--
BRIAN SOZZI: For things. For things.
