Episode #55: Peloton's PR Stumbles and Creating a Fairer Post-Pandemic Workplace

Talking Shop Podcast

Peloton, that premium brand that makes pricey exercise equipment for wealthy urbanites, has a knack for finding itself in the news for the wrong reasons. You may recall a television commercial that featured a man buying his wife a Peloton for Christmas, which thrust the company into social media wars. Now the problem is much worse: a six-year old child died, and dozens of others were injured, from the Tread+ treadmill marketed by Peloton. The company denied any problems at first, which wasn't exactly smart. It got a lot worse after that, giving us an excellent "what not to do" case study. It's these ones that we love to get into!

Ewan raises the issue of women in the workplace, and how they have suffered much more than other groups during the pandemic. He brings up some potential solutions to the problem, one of which could be opening the door to more remote work.

The hosts also discuss Cam's second Pfizer shot, which was given about an hour before recording, Ewan's recommendation of a television commercial, and a darkly funny comedy called "Why Women Kill."

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Links and Show Notes

• Experts Fear the Pandemic May Have Devastating Effects on Working Moms - National Post
• Tracking Job Losses for Mothers of School-Age Children During a Health Crisis - United States Census Bureau
• Child Dies in Accident Involving Peloton Treadmill - New York Times
• A Note from Peloton CEO John Foley about Tread+ - Peloton
• CSPC Warns Consumers: Stop Using the Pelton Tread+ - United States Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Lessons from Peloton's Treadmill Recall Reminiscent of Other Crises - PR News Online
• The Six Crisis Management Lessons from Peloton's Delayed Recall of Treadmills - Forbes

Check This Out

• Extra Gum: "For When It's Time" | Longform Film - YouTube
• Why Women Kill - IMDB

Hosts

Ewan Christie is an employment lawyer and partner at Duntrune LLP in Toronto, Canada.

Cam MacMurchy is a corporate communications executive with a multinational technology company listed in Hong Kong and curator of the Digital Bits PR and Communications newsletter. He also contributes to Apple news website 9to5Mac and shares his thoughts on PR, media, travel, and technology on his website.