Friday, January 13, 2012

Winners and Controversy. Because what's a blog post without a little variety?

Before I get into the juice of this post, let's announce the WINNERS of my Bob Harper Inside Out Method DVDs giveaway, shall we?

There were eleven entries for the strength DVD.













With a little help from random.org...











Congratulations, Alyssa! Maybe after mastering this DVD you'll be able to climb that rope ladder; no problem.




Thirteen people entered to win the Cardio DVD.
Random.org liked lucky number six...
Way to go, Autumn1329. Now you can continue to be a weather wuss and still get your cardio in this Winter. Send me an email (hinkle.emily[at]gmail.com) with your mailing address and I'll ship that out to you!



And now onto the story of why I will no longer be pining after Lululemon clothing (yes, I completely  changed my mind about them in less than 24 hours). After yesterday's post, I was alerted that they've been in the news lately and that I should check it out before deciding I want any of their products. And so, as a good little consumer, I did. And I'm horrified.

The first article I found is titled: Murder at Lululemon: Yoga's "Heart of Darkness"?  This is where I started to get worried. Basically, one Lululemon employee stabbed and bludgeoned another to death...inside a Lululemon store. 
It would be tempting to dismiss the savage murder—Norwood stabbed and bludgeoned Murray an estimated 330 times over the course of 20 minutes, severing her spinal cord—as a bizarre and random event. That's surely what the Canadian-based Lululemon, which seems to have nine lives when it comes to recurring scandal and controversy, is hoping for.

When I got to the "recurring scandal and controversy" part. That's when I was intrigued. Is it all this bad? Why are they still in business?

The article goes on to say that the former CEO Chip Wilson came up with the name "Lululemon" because he enjoyed making fun of the Japanese, and he knew it would be difficult for them to pronounce. And then in 2005, he announced that the company would begin using child labor and "sweat shops" in China. (Check out that link for more atrociousness.) 

Holier than thou, Chip Wilson.
(If he came put his nasty feet on my couch, he'd be eating it).

That was 2005. One year later, in 2006, yet another controversy. Lululemon started selling a line of bags said to be made with seaweed fiber, which, they boasted, offered health advantages to the consumer, including stress reduction. Skeptical, the New York Times sponsored lab tests and found there was no seaweed in the bags. Executives of the company refused to apologize.
There was no difference, in fact, between the Lululemon bags and other bags made of cotton - except that Lululemon's, of course, were a lot more expensive.
Apparently the company has also disseminated several ads poking fun at its customers. Now that's smart. They even produced shopping bags with controversial messages on them. Who wouldn't want to buy overpriced workout clothing from a company that makes fun of, and then offends them? Sign me up!

















 

Who needs ethics when you've got a shit-ton of money, right? Never again, Lululemon. Never again.

13 comments:

  1. Yep, that pretty much covers it. No thanks!

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  2. Wow, I knew I didn't like that company for its cult like following, but now I have new reasons!

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  3. Wow. Thanks for enlightening me. I certainly don't feel as though I'm missing out on something anymore. I think I'll unsubscribe from their e-mails....I don't even want them in my inbox.

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  4. Seriously, THEY'RE JUST WORKOUT CLOTHES. Over priced yoga wear. I don't get it. Now I really will never go back to that little store on the north shore.

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  5. I wouldn't pay $80.00 for a skirt anyway but good to know I haven't been supporting that crap!

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  6. I had no idea. Thanks for the lesson. Another reason not to go there.

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  7. I had no idea. Thanks for the lesson. Another reason not to go there.

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  8. This all kinda makes sense, after I saw on their fb page the 'Namaste Mutherf&*ckers' video they made. I thought it was incredibly poor taste as I've never seen a corporation/business use such language even using asterisks, but this seems about in line with the company now

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  9. I had no idea either. Thank you for the information! Honestly, I wasn't even overly familiar with their name - but sounds like that's a good thing. :D

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  10. Hot damn, I knew about the last point, but the murder thing is insane! I'm definitely not buying anything there again (I own one Lululemon shirt and it was stupidly overpriced). I also think it's weird that their clothing only goes up to a (very small) size 12.

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  11. I remember reading about the murder last year. I don't think that incident alone is a reason not to buy their clothing...there are crazies everywhere out there. But I do object to their clothing being made in sweat shops in China, especially after reading the book "Where am I wearing." When I first came across LLL, their stuff was designed and made in Canada! I think once they gained popularity, they cheapened production (yet prices went up). I'm glad Nike improved their labor practices, they are a cheaper alternative and the quality is good. C9 is surprisingly good and even cheaper, and still not made in China.

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  12. OMG! How did I miss this?? I won!! YAY!

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  13. i had no idea lululemon was like this -- i just knew it was overpriced merchandise (and i did know about the recent murder).

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