StylinRed
12-16-2009, 04:07 PM
Lululemon irks Olympic officials with 'rogue' clothing line
Damian Inwood, Canwest News Service: Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A trendy Vancouver clothing company’s lulu of a marketing stunt has left Olympic organizers sucking lemons.
For Lululemon Athletica has come up with a cheeky clothing line that’s named “Cool Sporting Event That Takes Place in British Columbia Between 2009 & 2011 Edition.”
And Olympic officials lashed out at the outfitter’s “rogue advertising” on Monday night.
But Lululemon spokesman Eric Petersen denied the name was a brazen bid to circumvent Vancouver 2010’s vigorous brand protection policies.
“We never imagined or intended it to be that way,” insisted Petersen. “We did our homework and were very confident that this is within the letter of the law.”
Petersen said the design of the clothing line, which includes toques, hoodies, T-shirts and mitts, was a “collaborative” effort.
“We sat in a room and people were going, ‘Let’s put 2010 on it, let’s put Vancouver on it,’” he said. “And we said, ‘You can’t do that. You can’t say this.’
“We went through the litany of things you cannot say and started throwing out a bunch of things we felt we could say that were respectful of the rules and regulations.”
According to Petersen, the clothing is aimed at any of the sporting events in the 2009 to 2011 window such as the World Junior Hockey Championships.
“We would never do anything that we felt was ambush marketing,” he added.
The clothing line includes red T-shirts with the word “Eh!” or a Todd Bertuzzi lookalike hockey player. There are also mitts, scarves and hoodies in the national colours of Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Germany.
A Christmas “gag gift” is “hockey helmet” headgear complete with tooth blackener for that Bobby Clarke grin.
“You can have a zipper pull from any different country,” chuckled Petersen.
“And our favourite thing with the hoodie is the Canadian zipper is gold and the rest of the zippers are silver. So the American zippers are silver and we feel that’s like the Canadian loonie that went under the ice.”
Petersen was referring to the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics, where Canada beat the U.S. in the gold medal hockey game after a loonie was embedded at centre ice.
The clothing line is being sold in 42 Lululemon stores across Canada, including eight in the Lower Mainland and one in Whistler.
It’s also in eight stores in the U.S.
He said Lululemon hasn’t talked to Vancouver 2010 officials about the clothing line.
But if 2010 complained, he added, “we’d sit down and talk to them and explain what our intent was.”
Shopper Tim Lehman said he had no objection to the marketing ploy and thinks Olympic organizers have gone “a little over the top” in protecting the 2010 brand.
“I could care less about Olympia Pizza and I think they got unfairly targeted in 2005, when they’ve been around for years,” added Lehman. “It’s ridiculous.”
Bill Cooper, 2010’s director of commercial rights management, strongly disagreed with Lululemon’s marketing strategy.
“We expected better sportsmanship from a local Canadian company than to produce a clothing line that attempts to profit from the Games but doesn’t support the Games or the success of the Canadian Olympic team,” he fumed.
“Funds generated from the sale of officially licensed merchandise — including the hugely popular red mittens — goes directly towards the success of the Canadian Olympic Team and the successful staging of the Games.”
Cooper said that 2010 has consulted lawyers and while Lululemon’s line isn’t trying to mislead consumers into believing the clothing is authentic merchandise, “we expect a higher standard than the strict letter of the law.”
He said 2010 will use tactics outside legal action to “encourage” them to comply, such as a PR campaign to “make sure the consumer is informed.”
Lululemon lost out to HBC in bidding to become an official clothing outfitter of the Canadian Olympic team from 2006 to 2012.
dinwood@theprovince.com
http://www.globaltvbc.com/entertainment/Lululemon+irks+Olympic+officials+with+rogue+clothi ng+line/2348061/story.html
http://www.theprovince.com/life/Lululemon+irks+Olympic+officials+with+rogue+clothi ng+line/2345215/story.html
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/41524/1d/www.globaltvbc.com/entertainment/Lululemon+irks+Olympic+officials+with+rogue+clothi ng+line/2348061/2347204.bin?size=sw380nws
just saw this on the news, all i gotta say is :D:thumbsup:
Damian Inwood, Canwest News Service: Wednesday, December 16, 2009
A trendy Vancouver clothing company’s lulu of a marketing stunt has left Olympic organizers sucking lemons.
For Lululemon Athletica has come up with a cheeky clothing line that’s named “Cool Sporting Event That Takes Place in British Columbia Between 2009 & 2011 Edition.”
And Olympic officials lashed out at the outfitter’s “rogue advertising” on Monday night.
But Lululemon spokesman Eric Petersen denied the name was a brazen bid to circumvent Vancouver 2010’s vigorous brand protection policies.
“We never imagined or intended it to be that way,” insisted Petersen. “We did our homework and were very confident that this is within the letter of the law.”
Petersen said the design of the clothing line, which includes toques, hoodies, T-shirts and mitts, was a “collaborative” effort.
“We sat in a room and people were going, ‘Let’s put 2010 on it, let’s put Vancouver on it,’” he said. “And we said, ‘You can’t do that. You can’t say this.’
“We went through the litany of things you cannot say and started throwing out a bunch of things we felt we could say that were respectful of the rules and regulations.”
According to Petersen, the clothing is aimed at any of the sporting events in the 2009 to 2011 window such as the World Junior Hockey Championships.
“We would never do anything that we felt was ambush marketing,” he added.
The clothing line includes red T-shirts with the word “Eh!” or a Todd Bertuzzi lookalike hockey player. There are also mitts, scarves and hoodies in the national colours of Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Germany.
A Christmas “gag gift” is “hockey helmet” headgear complete with tooth blackener for that Bobby Clarke grin.
“You can have a zipper pull from any different country,” chuckled Petersen.
“And our favourite thing with the hoodie is the Canadian zipper is gold and the rest of the zippers are silver. So the American zippers are silver and we feel that’s like the Canadian loonie that went under the ice.”
Petersen was referring to the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympics, where Canada beat the U.S. in the gold medal hockey game after a loonie was embedded at centre ice.
The clothing line is being sold in 42 Lululemon stores across Canada, including eight in the Lower Mainland and one in Whistler.
It’s also in eight stores in the U.S.
He said Lululemon hasn’t talked to Vancouver 2010 officials about the clothing line.
But if 2010 complained, he added, “we’d sit down and talk to them and explain what our intent was.”
Shopper Tim Lehman said he had no objection to the marketing ploy and thinks Olympic organizers have gone “a little over the top” in protecting the 2010 brand.
“I could care less about Olympia Pizza and I think they got unfairly targeted in 2005, when they’ve been around for years,” added Lehman. “It’s ridiculous.”
Bill Cooper, 2010’s director of commercial rights management, strongly disagreed with Lululemon’s marketing strategy.
“We expected better sportsmanship from a local Canadian company than to produce a clothing line that attempts to profit from the Games but doesn’t support the Games or the success of the Canadian Olympic team,” he fumed.
“Funds generated from the sale of officially licensed merchandise — including the hugely popular red mittens — goes directly towards the success of the Canadian Olympic Team and the successful staging of the Games.”
Cooper said that 2010 has consulted lawyers and while Lululemon’s line isn’t trying to mislead consumers into believing the clothing is authentic merchandise, “we expect a higher standard than the strict letter of the law.”
He said 2010 will use tactics outside legal action to “encourage” them to comply, such as a PR campaign to “make sure the consumer is informed.”
Lululemon lost out to HBC in bidding to become an official clothing outfitter of the Canadian Olympic team from 2006 to 2012.
dinwood@theprovince.com
http://www.globaltvbc.com/entertainment/Lululemon+irks+Olympic+officials+with+rogue+clothi ng+line/2348061/story.html
http://www.theprovince.com/life/Lululemon+irks+Olympic+officials+with+rogue+clothi ng+line/2345215/story.html
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/41524/1d/www.globaltvbc.com/entertainment/Lululemon+irks+Olympic+officials+with+rogue+clothi ng+line/2348061/2347204.bin?size=sw380nws
just saw this on the news, all i gotta say is :D:thumbsup: