You haven't been in the bike section of Walmart or target before have you? Or been in the mind of a "i want a bike but only know what i knew when i was a kid" person like i was in dec. That's all there is is mtbs. In bright colors with full suspension and disc brakes for $99. Looks good to someone buying their first bike as an adult compared to the maybe 1 hybrid they have that, just like the few beach cruisers they have, looks like something your approaching-retirement parents would buy.

I bought my mtb in dec because I didn't want a curly bar bike with skinny tires, knew it would go offroad very occasionally and really had no idea it was slower. As far as I knew, people probably rode road races on a mtb. Seriously, I knew driving big cars and trucks and bikes = slow, one's not going to be faster than the other muscle is all that matter. I'd never heard of a hybrid.

They could redo one of their bright color disc mtb frames to take 700c wheels, higher gears, lose rear or both susp, advertise it on the flyer "faster than MTB!" and give it a name like StreetRipper 2000 or partner with a car manu for a name like some cheap mtbs have done call it WRX or something. Might sell.