Vancouver Olympics Red Mittens | Source: Hudson's Bay Company

VANCOUVER, Canada — Every two years that global extravaganza called the Olympic Games alternates between summer and winter sports. Next in line is Vancouver which will host the XXI Olympic Winter Games between 12-28 February 2010, costing the city in excess of $1.5 billion.

Over the weekend, Tyler Brûlé reckoned in the Financial Times that Canada is wasting an opportunity to re-brand itself to the world, using the Olympics as a communications platform like Sydney and Barcelona successfully did. Would-be Canadian Prime Minister Michael Ignatieff, on the other hand, seemed to have read Mr. Brûlé’s mind, writing in a New York Times Magazine article the day before that Canada is not looking to put its own brand at the centre of these Olympics as that would be un-Canadian.

But like it or not, this is the first truly social media Olympics. A digital footprint of these games will be left for eternity on countless Facebook pages and Twitter streams. It is the first time that athletes, hailing from more than 80 countries, will be tweeting their experiences from the sidelines while spectators share their experiences in real-time, uploading photos and videos, documenting every Olympic second for their friends and family back at home.

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A snippet of the Lululemon mantra

Lululemon Weathering the Tough Retail Season (Seeking Alpha)
Lululemon, the Canadian yoga wear retailer sees its shares jump by 9 percent.

Strong dollar makes for weak results (Just-Style)
The rising dollar is adversely affecting European retailers.

Consumer Spending on the Upswing (Seeking Alpha)
“US consumers continued the increased spending pattern that began in January 2009 into February 2009, spending slightly more in February than they the previous month.”

Opening Ceremony To Expand In Japan With Onward (WWD, Subscription Only)
Opening Ceremony, the downtown emporium of cool in New York City, will open its first store in Japan.

Authorities in Canada’s Competition Bureau have instructed Lululemon to remove from its labels the claims that the seaweed content in its VitaSea line would reduce stress and provide anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hydrating and detoxifying benefits to people wearing the garments. Acting Deputy Commissioner, Andrea Rosen, said:

Those claims have to be scientific and they have to be provable. The onus is on the advertiser, not the government, to prove that the tests are adequate prior to making the claims.

Yesterday, in the wake of a Lululemon investor relations breakdown about the seaweed content and the health benefit claims, the Business of Fashion advised Lululemon, especially now that it is a high-profile public company, to back up all of its product claims with clear evidence. Earlier this week when Chip Wilson, the company’s Founder, Chairman and Chief Product Designer, was told of the results from the New York Times’ test of the VitaSea product, he said:

If you actually put it on and wear it, it is different from cotton. That’s my only test of it.

Sounds like they also need to take our advice to more carefully manage their Corporate Communications and PR. There is an ongoing and raging debate about this, and other LULU issues linked to this incident, over at Google Finance.

Over the past year, Canadian yogawear brand and erstwhile stock market darling Lululemon Athletica has often been cited as proof of the market opportunity in new-age fashion concepts which pick up on psychographic and attitudinal shifts — i.e. that people are looking for more from their clothing than just functional and aesthetic utility. Some people, it is argued, want healthy, ethically conscious, and environmentally friendly feel-good benefits as well. Lululemon was delivering this in spades, while also benefiting from a lifestyle craze centred around Yoga, building a business of close to $150m in revenues.

However, the news all over the North American press this week was dramatically different. The New York Times published a damning article suggesting that Lululemon’s claims about the seaweed content in one of its clothing lines were patently false.  Through its seaweed content, the VitaSea line claims to reduce stress and provide anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hydrating and detoxifying benefits to its wearers, but the New York Times’ test showed no evidence of seaweed in Lululemon’s clothing.

This  sent Lululemon’s stock price on a rollercoaster ride. Previously, Lululemon had been enjoying stellar stock performance, reaching $60 a share after an IPO price of $25 in July. Yesterday the stock closed at $41.50.

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