Lululemon founder and Vancouver billionaire, Chip Wilson, faced several critics due to a controversial comment he made during his interview on Bloomberg TV’s “Street Smart” program. He justified complaints regrading Lululemon tights being “too sheer” by stating that “quite frankly, some bodies actually do not work for it” . Numerous consumers found this comment discriminatory against women of different body sizes and accused the company of only providing their products for a niche market.

Founder of Lululemon, Chip Wilson, during his controversial interview with Bloomberg TV.

The immense vulnerability of a company’s fate is in the hands of their consumers. The true intentions of a company can be lost in a series of social media bursts and misinterpreted advertising and cause their consumers to question their ethics and morals. Wilson eventually made a public apology for his statement, however, consumers were not satisfied. Chip Wilson  and CEO Christine Day stepped down from their position as Laurent Potdevin, who was the president of TOMS, became the companies new CEO. The perceptions of consumers were so heavily influenced that Lululemon had to remove the figurehead of their company in order to maintain and adequately enforce their values and ethical standpoints.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/12/10/lululemon-athletica-inc-founder-chip-wilson-to-step-down-new-ceo-named-as-yoga-wear-maker-tries-new-management-on-for-size/

http://globalnews.ca/news/950626/lululemon-founder-says-their-pants-do-not-work-for-some-womens-bodies/