A Christmas advertisement for an exercise bike has been called "sexist" and "dystopian" on social media, but the company has stood by its campaign.

Key points: The ad shows a young woman filming herself for her husband as she works out

The ad shows a young woman filming herself for her husband as she works out It has been criticised as showing controlling and manipulative behaviour

It has been criticised as showing controlling and manipulative behaviour Shares in the bike maker fell amid a social media backlash

The Peloton International commercial shows a young woman receiving the bike as a gift from her husband, then recording her workouts over a year and sharing them with him through a video blog.

The 30-second video, which has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube, was not well received on Twitter. Several users said it was sexist, while some said the husband was "controlling" and "manipulative", as buying his wife an exercise bike suggested that she needed to lose weight.

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Comedian and writer Jess Dweck compared the advertisement to an episode of Netflix's dystopian anthology series Black Mirror.

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Refinitiv's Eikon Social Media Monitor showed sentiment toward Peloton turned negative on Tuesday, having been firmly positive in the past couple of months.

A company spokeswoman said the campaign had been "misinterpreted", saying it was just meant to celebrate fitness.

"While we're disappointed in how some have misinterpreted this commercial, we are encouraged by — and grateful for — the outpouring of support we've received from those who understand what we were trying to communicate," a company spokeswoman told Reuters.

Shares of the company fell about 5 per cent on Wednesday afternoon, though finance experts predicted the drop would be temporary.

"This was just a clueless mistake that social media is going to rip you apart over," said Eric Schiffer, chief executive officer of Patriarch Organisation, a Los Angeles-based private-equity firm.

"I don't think it's going to create an avalanche of negative implications to revenues."

Reuters/ABC