And Lululemon Changes their Product Descriptions…

We all know sunlight can affect clothing. The bright light of attention on Vancouver yoga/sportswear company Lululemon has affected the labels.

After discussion with the federal Competition Bureau, the company is withdrawing the claims it makes about the health benefits of its clothing, until it can back them up with provable facts.

Colin McKay has a great graphic showing the strained credibility that Lululemon was relying on (CSR= corporate social responsibility):

Claims about health benefits are nothing new to the granola crowd. The health food and vitamin industries have been dancing along the edge of allowable claims on and off for decades.

Did most consumers really think that minerals, vitamins and amino acids were going to leech out of their t-shirt and fill them with healthy goodness? Methinks the health claims were secondary considerations to style and comfort. They may not need to do a bunch of testing to prove claims that won’t win them a lot of new customers anyway.

Vitamins and health food, on the other hand, better have some health benefits, or why bother paying extra for them?

See also: Lululemon Defends its Reputation; and Lululemon Has a Secret that Undermines its Reputation

Tags: lululemon, retail, manufacturing, clothing, fashion, yoga, competition bureau, corporate social responsibility, health claims