Athleta ad spotlights booty, not camel toe
The fight for yoga pant dominance continues with Athleta taking a swipe at Lululemon’s much buzzed-about camel toe campaign.
Athleta’s latest promotion for its Kickbooty yoga pants looks an awful lot like Lululemon’s anti-camel toe ad, down to the pose and the model.
One difference, besides subbing a yoga studio for a sunset setting, is that Athleta, which is owned by the Gap, has put the spotlight back on the booty.
It pretty clear to me why: Everyone knows that yoga pants, in addition to performing their basic athletic function (which should include not riding up while you’re working out), should also make your butt look great—if not much better than usual. Call it the Spanx effect.
Lululemon Camel Toe ad
So while Lululemon is focused on the gusset and the groin, Athleta is bringing it back to the booty. It’s a move that makes me wonder if a Coke vs. Pepsi–like war within the wellness world is brewing between the two brands.
And it also begs the question: Is it my booty that Athleta’s pants aim to kick or Lululemon’s?
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I work for Athleta and just wanted to clarify that our first ad for the Kickbooty pant appeared in Yoga Journal’s February 2010 issue. The email above went out recently to let our customers know the pant is back in stock (it sold out super fast after it was introduced in January 2010). Lululemon’s (very clever) ad appeared in the most recent issue of YJ.
Cheers to great options and great brands for yoginis!
Ah ha! An important history lesson. Thank you for sharing, Michelle.
While I think that’s good and well, what I found interesting is that Athleta still didn’t manage to come out with something more original. If they want to stand out from lululemon, take a different approach instead of trying to be like lululemon. I found lululemon’s add to be more entertaining & memorable… and their pants always make booties look great, so naturally they focused on something else that women would worry about in their spandex pants. Nice try, Athleta.
[...] Which, we have to say, is kind of awesome, because you can weigh in on things like the fact that taking most sports bras off requires the Jaws of Life and yoga pants should not come with a mandatory “camel toe.” [...]