Why lululemon's ‘CEO Wanted’ Ad is Bad for the Brand

lululemon's homepage recently featured — in big block letters that took up my entire computer screen — a message that read: "CEO Wanted." My first thought was that someone had hacked into its site as a prank. It turns out someone hadn't. lululemon is known for being irreverent, and I'm all for it. I've written about its playful brand voice. It's hard to be confident, sophisticated and tongue-in-cheek at the same time, yet lululemon does it well. So why was this homepage message so jarring?