Recently, Lululemon has been at the centre of many controversial claims. Earlier this month a number of claims were made regarding the company’s yoga pants, which were said to be too sheer and pilled. The company was forced to recall this controversial product. Lululemon then rebranded the pants as “Second Chance Pant” with the added promise of more coverage.
Huffington post article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/14/lululemon-alienating-customers_n_4275842.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business&ir=Canada%20Business
In a recent interview after the product recall, Lululemon chairman and co-founder; Chip Wilson, blamed the pants’ problems on women’s bodies. He boldly claimed that the pants simply don’t work for some women’s bodies and simply rubs in the wrong places. Wilson later on apologized for his statements. His apology was labelled as “the worst ever”.
In terms of a marketing standpoint, this is an absolute disaster. Alongside this public relations disaster is the very present “fat-shaming” in stores, Lululemon will have an ever more difficult time attracting, let alone retaining its consumer base.
ABC article and video: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/lululemon-chairmen-chip-wilsons-apology-called-worst-20886522
In the short-term, Wilson’s attempted apology did nothing more than hurt the company’s image, leaving the company’s future in question.