Canadian athletic wear brand lululemon is facing heavy backlash in China over a cultural blunder at its flagship event. The brand hosted a large yoga festival at the Huanghuacheng section of the Great Wall, and promoted a drum performance as “traditional Chinese drumming.” But after the event, music experts called out the obvious: that was not a Chinese drum. It was a Japanese taiko drum — the two have completely different construction, from how the drumhead is fastened to the overall shape and playing style. Essentially, lululemon passed off a Japanese instrument as Chinese culture — and did it on the Great Wall, one of China’s most symbolically important historical landmarks.

The frustration isn’t about using a foreign instrument — it’s about the lack of effort. The brand wanted to capitalize on Chinese cultural appeal to win over consumers, but couldn’t even be bothered to do basic research. To many, it felt like a lazy, disrespectful cash grab. lululemon did issue an apology, blaming “limited professional knowledge” and pulling all related content. But most people aren’t convinced. An event of this scale goes through layers of approval — a mistake this basic points to a pattern common among global brands: outsource the local marketing, and don’t invest in real cultural oversight.

What makes this worse is lululemon’s current business state. Globally, growth is stalling, North American sales are declining, and its stock has dropped more than 40 percent this year. The one bright spot? Mainland China, where revenue is still up 30 percent year over year — practically its only growth engine. lululemon doesn’t just sell workout clothes; it sells a lifestyle and a sense of cultural taste. So when it gets Chinese culture this wrong, it erodes the exact premium value people are paying for.