Old Navy Throws First Punch With Anti-Lululemon Ad
GymBuddiez | March 29, 2009
“Everybody remain calm. Our comfy, stretchy yoga pants are here.
Our guru thinks you’re lulu if you spend $90 for yoga pants.”
POW right in the kisser. Kind of a playful little ad, no? “Go Yoga-ing” is all fun and bouncy, makes us feel like “Go Spelunking” or something. The ad falls in line with the typically whimsy Old Navy marketing (perhaps gone a bit too far recently with the new mannequin campaign – how annoying is that?). But amidst the levity of hot pink and flowers, the message hits below the belt, and where it counts the most these days: the wallet.
So far this is the first direct offensive we’ve seen launched against the lulus, with surely more to come, especially now that internet greatness is imminent! But when Old Navy does advertising they do it on a massive scale – it’s not just an artsy blurb in one store window – so we imagine this message is being plastered at every one of the 1067 locations. We anxiously await the power play from mothership Gap who snagged Athleta last year, much to the chagrin of the Lulubirds hoping to buy into e-commerce. (Just for reference Gap Inc. runs 1193 Gap stores, and is the mama to Old Navy, and Banana Republic, 573 stores). Yep, whether you like it or not, Yoga has hit the big time, and now has a place at the big kids table: knuckle sandwiches are on the menu!
In perusing the Old Navy website we were really surprised to find such an ample collection. $15 for the 1 yard of material it takes to make yoga shorts vs. a $34-40 price tag sounds like a pretty great deal. Seriously, if they had a clearer stance on sweatshops they’d totally beat out our fave American Apparel.
Ad snapshot via The Professional Vegan
Earlier…Eddie Bauer Makes Move to Yoga Market, Cramping Lululemon’s Style
Cult of Commerciality: Lululemon’s Agenda of ‘Calculated Nonchalance’ At Yoga’s Expense
