Re: Tiana’s Blog Post Lululemon’s Culture: The Pursuit of Greatness
Lululemon has always been known for the positive culture that exists within the organization; employees, consumers, and investors alike are drawn to the culture that empowers individuals to live a healthy fulfilling life. Just as my classmate, Tiana mentioned in her blog post, “Lululemon’s organizational culture differentiates from the typical business because of its value in encouraging employees’ self development”.
Unfortunately, shortly after her blog post was published, the value proposition of Lululemon seemingly took a drastic change. Founder of Lululemon Chip Wilson stated in a Bloomberg interview:
“quite frankly, some women’s bodies just actually don’t work for it.”– Chip Wilson in response to why pants are pilling
Perhaps his intention behind that statement wasn’t to discriminate oversized women, but interviewer Reagen excessively emphasized this point and the media took full advantage of Wilson’s slip in speech. The company’s brand image wasn’t improved when Wilson stepped up to make a public apology that was filled with hesitations making the apology seem insincere. The founder defines the culture, values, and beliefs of a company, so Wilson’s statement damaged the image of the company immensely. My friend who has been a loyal yoga teacher at Lululemon for the past four years told me that he didn’t wanted to teach at Lululemon anymore because he felt that his values no longer aligned with those of the company.
Original Interview
Wilson’s Apology
To see what others think about this situation, check out:
Image from: https://blogs.ubc.ca/aliceguo/files/2011/04/lulud.jpg
