Peloton rebounded from its infamous 'wife' commercial to be the at-home fitness competitor to beat, with sales spiking 172%

• One year ago, a Peloton ad featuring a woman who is gifted a bike by her husband sparked outrage and countless internet memes.
• The ad was deemed sexist and outdated by critics, but Peloton didn't back down.
• Now, 12 months later, Peloton's growth is skyrocketing. A Wedbush survey found that 97% of Peloton customers are satisfied with their experience.
• The internet backlash about the "Peloton wife" ad didn't dampen Peloton's growth — instead, as the pandemic forced people to stay at home, Peloton sales spiked 172%.

One year ago, the at-home fitness company Peloton put out a seemingly simple commercial: A woman receives a Peloton bike from her husband for Christmas and embarks on a year-long fitness journey, documenting her progress in selfie videos that she shares with her husband at the end of the year.

The video was uploaded to YouTube in November 2019 - it has since been delisted - and was aired on TV in the weeks before Christmas. Backlash was swift. Viewers thought it was sexist, that the gift was a controlling attempt by the woman's husband to force her to work out more often and adhere to outdated standards of female beauty.

By early December, outrage was mounting and Peloton's stock plunged 9%, wiping out $942 million in market value in a single day.

But Peloton didn't back down. The company issued a statement saying it was "disappointed" by how people had "misinterpreted" the ad. "We are encouraged by - and grateful for - the outpouring of support we've received from those who understand what we were trying to communicate," Peloton said at the time.

Now, one year after the infamous commercial, Peloton's growth has skyrocketed.

A 172% spike in sales

As the coronavirus pandemic has forced people to stay at home for nearly 10 months, they've turned to interactive fitness companies to stay fit and perhaps fill a social void.

In Peloton's case, that's paying off.

While Peloton has been described as "the Apple of fitness," it doesn't have a comparatively large user base - a recent poll from research firm CivicScience found that out of 3,298 Americans surveyed, only 2% were users.

But those who do use Peloton's products are almost 100% satisfied with their experience.

According to a Wedbush survey of hundreds of Peloton users, 69% said they were "very satisfied" and 28% said they were satisfied - that means a total of 97% of users surveyed are happy with Peloton's offerings, Business Insider's Emily Canal reported in September.

Read more: 1.1 million users, 97% satisfaction, and $607 million in revenue: How Peloton mastered user engagement to become the Apple of fitness

That satisfaction is represented in Peloton's most recent quarterly earnings. The company announced in September that it had had its first profitable quarter, with sales spiking 172% since the same quarter last year and revenue rising to $607 million, according to its shareholder letter.

Peloton has had its share of customer frustration in 2020, despite its popularity. In September, customers described experiencing issues with their bikes, like pedals snapping off bikes mid-ride and the company taking weeks or months to make repairs, according to Business Insider's Madeline Stone. After 120 reports of bikes breaking and 16 reports of customers getting injured, the company issued a recall affecting 30,000 bikes.

And last month, customers trying to purchase new Peloton equipment told Business Insider's Bethany Biron that they were experiencing shipping delays as a result of pandemic-related stress on supply chains. Frustrated customers took to social media to complain, a rare move from Peloton's legion of diehard fans.

Plus, Peloton is facing competition from all sides: Apple is launching a competing fitness service and Echelon Fitness, which makes a cheaper stationary bike, has seen has seen a 700% spike in sales during the pandemic. Now, with COVID-19 vaccines on the way, "stay-at-home" stocks like Peloton are down as Wall Street looks toward a future where people aren't confined to their homes.

Still, Peloton recently signed a multi-year deal with Beyoncé, debuted a new bike and treadmill, and its market value tops $34 billion.

This time last year, the company's name was steeped in outrage and controversy. These days, Peloton is laughing all the way to the bank.