Peloton’s Christmas ad is compared to a Black Mirror episode, Billie Eilish has gone viral for, like, 3 things this week, Baby Yoda and White Claw have been combined into a tattoo to summarize 2019, and many more viral stories you should know this week…
Peloton’s Ad Is Being Compared to Black Mirror—& Might Have Caused a Stock Drop
Peloton had a really, really unmerry week. If you were on the internet, or watched the news, or paid attention to the stock market this week, you probably heard about the high-tech exercise bike’s Christmas commercial, which went viral for all the wrong reasons. In the ad, a husband gifts his fit wife a Peloton bike for Christmas, and she spends the year documenting her fitness journey. Sound nice? Almost no one thinks so. The ad was compared to Black Mirror, called sexist and dystopian, and parodied on social media (a favorite has almost 4 million views). Many said the wife looks terrified, and others criticized the fact that she is already physically tiny before her year-long Peloton adventure. The ad currently has over 4 million views on YouTube, and far more dislikes than likes, though the brand is standing behind their marketing. Things got so bad that the brand’s 9% stock dip this week is being blamed on the commercial backlash—though Adweek says the “dumb” ad isn’t the real cause. (Meanwhile, people are loving this Christmas ad from a family-owned hardware store that cost them just $130 to make.)
Pantone’s Color of the Year Is All About Easing Our Anxiety
Pantone has announced their color of the year for 2020, and everyone is feeling comforted. The color is Classic Blue, “A timeless and enduring blue hue, timeless in its simplicity” and as Design Milk says, it’s meant to “evoke calm evening skies, a sense of peace, and reassurance in trying times”—something that stressed out Gen Z and Millennials are always looking for. With everyone from Teen Vogue to The Cut praising its “anti-anxiety” qualities, headlines about the color were everywhere this week. The tweet announcing the color has been retweeted over 18,0000 times, #ClassicBlue was all over social feeds, and of course, brands jumped into the conversation as well.
Billie Eilish Has Gone Viral For, Like, 3 Things This Week
Seventeen-year-old Billie Eilish won Global Artist Of The Year at Apple Music’s first ever awards this week, but that was just the beginning of the headlines about the singer. First, Eilish went viral for saying she doesn’t know who Van Halen is—eliciting strong reactions. Some on Twitter were horrified, while supporters said “Ok Boomer,” and Elizabeth Warren came to her defense. Van Halen became the number one trending topic as a result. Then, Eilish released her latest music video, “Xanny,” which has gotten over 10 million views in a day, and shows the singer without her signature slime green hair. It’s also being called an anti-smoking PSA, thanks to the cigarettes being put out on Eilish’s face in the vid and her statement that “This song is obviously about how stupid cigarettes are.” But the internet wasn’t finished with Eilish news yet. Now, a #BillieEilishIsOverParty is being held on Twitter by Lady Gaga fans after Eilish, a vegan, responded negatively when asked about Gaga’s infamous 2010 meat dress. Of course, Billie’s fans, and even some of Gaga’s are defending her. Confused? Welcome to the internet at the end of 2019.
Spotify’s Year Wrapped Playlists Spark Shame, Envy
It’s that time of year again! Spotify has released their annual Wrapped playlists for its users, recapping the music they listened to the most, and this year they’re causing shame for some and major envy for others. Apple Music doesn’t release a year-retrospective, leaving its users “feeling left out” and looking on sadly. Meanwhile, many of those who did get a nostalgic look back at their music listening for the year were embarrassed by the results—the data behind their top songs revealing some uncomfortable truths. Others are seeing the impact that sharing their Spotify passwords with their parents has had (lots of John Mayer). The app also released some of the year-end stats for major artists: Lady Gaga’s “Shallow” has been streamed over 919,000,000 times, and BTS’s “Buy With Luv” was streamed by their Army over 300 million times in 2019.
Links We’re Passing
This Baby Yoda drinking a White Claw tattoo summarizes 2019
Everyone’s talking about how the star of Disney’s Aladdin hasn’t had an audition since the movie
A teen made a TikTok after car crash—from inside the flipped car
Nintendo Switch was released in 2018, and it just had its best sales week ever in the U.S.
Post Malone dropped his new Croc line at the fast food spot he once worked at—and lines were seriously long
A vegan blogger started eating only meat, and her followers aren’t happy
