Stop the presses! Lululemon Flatiron IS Lululemon Union Square. Is STILL exploiting President Obama, now with the help of First Lady Michelle!
Blast! Wouldn’t you know those sneaky goalsetters at Lululemon have pulled a fast one. It’s true, they’ve gone ahead and shuttered the Flatiron store in light of the finally unleashed Union Square outpost (a plan we surmised last fall, but which was never confirmed nor denied by the lulu crew). We cried foul on the gross proximity of the two locations and the fact that the “ambassadors” were identical for either store – which is now cleared up, thank goodness! Frankly, Lululemon, we’re disappointed in you. With all the positive thinking surely you could’ve sustained the two stores. But as NYC retail blog Racked pointed out, you really only need one yoga store per every 10 or so city blocks, right?
So they spent lots of Canadian dollars opening the temporary space and moving etc., and somehow managed to still outdo themselves in Obama-exploiting window displays! This lulu politicObama train is not slowing down. The full assault below…
Union Square store:
You might have trouble seeing, but those are indeed the visages of Pres. Barack and Michelle Obama in what appear to be caricatures a little too reminiscent of the Fat Albert cartoon. While not exactly the “Drunken Negro Head” cookies it’s pretty offensive to see the cartooned heads of our new President and First Lady (who we don’t know even practice yoga!) plastered to mannequins for the purpose of shoving an ideology and $80 yoga pants down our throats. It’s rather despicable, really.
But not surprising…
Original disturbing “Ombama” Ad complete with Natarajasana (dancer’s pose) tattoo
Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama window display found in all of the stores
Even more offensive is this quote was pulled from an NPR report from October 2008, originally a text message from one African American worker to another encouraging his friend to vote in the Missouri state race. Now exploited as a Lululemon advertisement to sell yoga clothes.
Where’s the Fox “Shame, Shame, Shaaame” crew when you need it?
photo credit Flatiron closed
I agree wholeheartedly.
lululemon’s windos are all designed and executed by the educators that work on the floor…there are no guidelines set by the corporate offices in vancouver. I think it’s pretty clear that NYC (along with the rest of the country) is ready for some serious change – and luckily lululemon is a company that allows their staff to express any opinions in their store windows.
Lululemon is in the business of yoga. Are they evil? Far from it. Are they full of idealism, love, happy-happy yoga? Far from it. They came into Boulder, competing with longtime local indie dance and yoga gear shops, advertised in our (indie) publication a few times (seriously, thanks!) and then left us like yesterday’s news as soon as they were established. They seem about as connected to community as any hucksters. Look to prAna, Patagonia, if you wanna see bigger companies connecting with their own demographic out of inspiration, not greed.
Similar post from moi: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2009/01/worst-ad-ever-ombama-by-lululemon-an-appeal/ from a former employee: http://www.elephantjournal.com/2008/12/excuse-me-lululemon-your-tag-is-sticking-out-by-sarah-miller-corporate-yoga-corporate-businesses-corrupt-spirituality/