The issue is that they were overly vague in their marketing teasers (and yet too suggestive in one particular way that was misleading). Everyone leaned towards a “bike-related” assumption, especially since they specifically pointed to “carbon fiber” as a material change. So it was almost a bait and switch when it turned out to be a rider gear item instead of a bike one.
It’s like a person saying “I have a surprise for you…” and hinting it would be something for one part of your life (new bike gear), and then finding out it is a pair of socks. I know this is potentially a life altering product for those that put it to it’s fullest design intent, and I bought one partly because of that.
But the backlash against this when people expected something very different is pretty well deserved, IMHO. Trek could have handled it differently to avoid the confusion and still built the suspense that they wanted.
Regardless, I think this is a simple lesson that marketing attempts to inflate a product release are just as tricky as they may be rewarding. As a more pragmatic person, I tend to avoid those types of bold claims, but I would likely be a terrible marketing person 
Couple that with the new pissing match between them and MIPS, and you get a deflation to their product release. Each of which, Trek/Bontrager should have (and may well have) expected and planned for, but who knows?