16 December 2009

 

Lululemon's clever retail satire

toque, toque and toque at Flickr.comLast year, Old Navy tried making some unofficial Olympic clothing, but Vancouver's Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) and the International Olympic Committee shut that down because the jackets were too close to official trademarks for the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Now Vancouver yoga retailer Lululemon has tried a cheekier approach, releasing a line of clothes pushing the line of Olympic trademark infringement, without quite crossing it. The line is called the "Cool Sporting Event That Takes Place in British Columbia Between 2009 & 2011 Edition," which gave me a laugh.

I like the sporting events of the Winter Olympics, but VANOC and the IOC have been overzealous in emphasizing the business aspects of the event, rather than the sport. So I appreciate Lululemon's retail satire. The stuff looks good too, so I might buy some.

I wonder if it will be hard to get into Olympic events wearing the Lululemon clothes in February?

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# 8:54 AM

Comments:

I'm not a big fan of Lululemon's bollocksy brand alignment ('lifestyle essentials', and so forth), but that's a seriously gutsy move, and will earn them a ton of press.
# posted by Blogger Darren Barefoot : 16 December, 2009 10:48
 
I own a few of their items, and the basic brown hoodie I bought a few years ago is one of my most useful and comfortable pieces of clothing. They hit on an interesting approach with their yoga focus, but have become Yet Another Big Company in the meantime. I'd like to see more of this satirical tweaking. Wendy's? Pepsi? MasterCard? Anyone?
# posted by Blogger Derek : 16 December, 2009 11:03
 
I agree it's a gutsy move but it won't entice me to buy anymore of their clothing. I don't find it comfortable, I'm the wrong shape or something? and it's expensive!
# posted by Blogger Melanie : 17 December, 2009 07:18
 
Yes, lululemon is expensive, but so is the Olympic brand clothing. Wearing the Olympic rings on a sweater seemed cool in the 1970's, but I think today's fashionistas and consumers in general are very wary of supporting an event as controversial and lame as the Olympics.
# posted by Blogger Air : 17 December, 2009 12:02
 
Like Darren, I'm not a fan of Lululemon's branding but I really love them for the cheek of this.

I agree with you Derek - VANOC has made me re-evaluate my love of the Olympics. I especially loved their line about Lululemon being "unsportsmanlike" and "relying on the letter of the law" - when this is exactly what they've been doing for the last couple of years.

I'm increasingly of the opinion that the Olympics has probably been like this for a very long time but it's only by being host city that we get to see how it's run.
# posted by Anonymous Jon Jennings : 18 December, 2009 15:42
 
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