How brands care: rhetorics of self-care in contemporary consumer culture

Rooted in feminist activism, self-care has become a commodified survival skill, practiced by individuals seeking temporary relief from everyday stress and exhaustion and to prevent or mitigate burnout. Under today’s challenging political and economic circumstances, the term ‘self-care’ has permeated popular culture and has shaped the discursive strategies of pro-care / lifestyle brands such as lululemon, the popular fitness apparel company. Through a review of the feminist and mainstream rhetorics of self-care as well as a critical discourse analysis (CDA) of lululemon’s brand communication, this Masters Research Paper (MRP) analyzes how lululemon communicates self-care as a means of restorative pleasure and optimization to their predominantly female demographic. Keywords: self-care, collective care, corporate care, neoliberalism, lululemon, exhaustion, optimization, retail resilience