There is hardly a day that goes by that I don’t see the God of Yoga clothes, Lululemon, around the studio I work at. I mean seriously that stuff is everywhere. Generally I find most women are totally into the look and the feel of it, if not obsessed. Usually they tell me it makes their butt look great or something along those lines. On my end, I have personally felt quite a bit of frustration at Lulu’s selection for guys because they always seem to have such minuscule choices in comparison. Not to mention I usually feel like I am giving part of my soul with my purchase due to the fact that it’s SO EXPENSIVE.
Anyways, Lulu turned heads the other day when they posted something rather ridiculous on Facebook; a Lulu barbie doll. This is what they wrote in their post (featured top):
We’re so excited to announce the launch of our new Perfect Balance collection, inspired by our Silicone Valley yoga ambassador, Tiffani! Her 1 year goals include mastering tree pose in high heels and travelling across the country in the convertible of her dreams
What’s funny is that Lulu was trying to make a joke and ended up pissing off a bunch of customers. The idea was to play off of the new line of Barbies where she takes on a variety of vocations, one of them being a Yoga teacher (to the left). Lulu aside, I must say this doll looks rather retarded and actually deserves to be made fun of. I mean, what is she doing? A pose? Or jumping? Her neck is as long as Giraffe’s. Meanwhile…she has a chihuahua? What kind of teacher brings her little rat-dog into a studio? I guess the same kind that has her name embroidered on her left pant leg. Sigh. But I digress.
There were many comments on the Facebook thread accusing Lulu of being sexist or some such thing. Many were offended that they would even think about putting something of that nature on the internet. You should read some of the comments here (scroll down to 6/18/12 post). Some of them included:
I think it’s incredibly offensive that Lululemon is using a Barbie doll as a marketing tool. Use real woman or men that have worked their butt’s in your clothing to achieve their goals. I’ve always been a supporter of Lululemon, because I thought this company stood for something, but I guess not. I think I’ll be buying a product that’s actually made in Canada, and stands up to tough workouts, and has a much better price point.
Hmmm, I’m starting to understand why it only took LLL 2 days to get all 4 of my pants hemmed and why the store was so empty on both Thursday when I dropped my pants off and today (Saturday, a typically busy shopping day) when I picked them up…I don’t think this Barbie thing is doing your business any good LL, but I’m sure happey to have all 4 pair of my pants back so quickly!
This is ridiculous. I love Lululemon but after issues with quality I am considering dropping it altogether, and now a campaign based around a doll? Are you kidding me?!! We are real people wanting real clothes made with quality. You are not sending the right message with this campaign to the younger audience since every woman is made unique and should not strive to be an impossible XXXS or barbie shaped! Get it together Lululemon or I am GONE!
Yea….and those weren’t the worst. Ok so I have to say something here. While it would be easy for me to jump on the Lulu bashing band wagon, I’m gonna have to take a different view and say something that people need to hear. CHILL OUT. Holy crap. Just because they want to make a joke in order to market themselves doesn’t mean they think of their customers as mindless plastic turds. I am in no way a Lulu snob, but if you ask me they were just trying to be funny. Some people really need to take a break from life and go look at some flowers or something. Getting that upset about a play on Yoga Barbie means you clearly need to do some Sun Salutations.
Anyways, I think that if Lulu did ever make a line of Barbies or Barbie clothes, you better be damn sure they’re going to be expensive. And rest assured every middle aged girl from the ages of 4-10 that has their little stuffed dolls in school will shop for them during the day, because they know it’s hip and all their friends are doing it. After all, they gotta be cool right?
Have a gander at some nude Yoga. Maybe that will calm all you serious Yogis down. I hear it’s all the rage in the cities.
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