Goop claims to be a ‘natural health’ company and a lifestyle brand that offers advice on ways to “nourish the inner aspect”, and of course a bunch of expensive products for people to buy. The brand is founded and owned by actor Gwyneth Paltrow and over the years has faced accusations of marketing products that range from the ineffective to the harmful. So what explains the continuing popularity of the Goop brand, in spite of some characterizing it as a scam?
It started as a celebrity sharing her beauty tips via a newsletter in 2008 and went on to become an incorporated entity selling its own formulations in 2011. Right now, the Goop website offers you all the armchair advice that you would typically find on any beauty or lifestyle blog – as the screengrab shows.
Of course there is the Goop shop that sells expensive products; or what Paltrow terms as ‘aspirational’ products. And pretty much like any other beauty brand, it tells women they are imperfect and that they have to strive for betterment achievable only by parting with cash in exchange for their cosmetics and wellness products. The shop also has products such as a collection of a dozen wooden spoons that cost $160.
Paltrow and her products have been accused of hypocrisy. Where she herself smokes, she propagates a toxin free lifestyle. Where on the one hand she decries other product manufacturers for selling chemical laden products, her own products appear to contain those same ‘toxic’ ingredients she warns against.
There is a whole bunch of (for want of a better word) bullshit that Goop sells. She recommends a process called ‘vaginal steaming’ for its “real healing properties”. Goop markets something called jade eggs – meant for – wait for it – vaginal weight lifting that is meant to improve “sexual energy, health and pleasure”. Then there are wearable stickers that promise to "re-balance the energy frequency in our bodies," whatever that means.
Goop has also promoted something called coffee enemas; a procedure that experts say has no proven benefits and which may actually be dangerous because of its potential side effects. British Magazine Skeptic awarded the Rusty Razor award to Goop for the most ‘audacious’ pseudoscience.
Earlier this year, Goop had a Wellness Summit where people were charged $5,700 to attend a weekend summit which included golden facials and ‘far-infrared gemstone therapy’. Some of those who attended were clearly disillusioned with what they described as a “long, expensive Goop sales pitch”. One of the attendees described Paltrow herself as someone who acts like a “health goddess” but is, in fact, a “pretentious greedy extortionist”.
Her products have been shown to be no better than many others, but have a much higher price point. Some of the things Paltrow promotes could range from the useless (items like “Dry Brush, the Jade Egg and the Rose Quartz Soothing Face-Massage Roller” displayed in the image) to the actually dangerous. So why is the Goop brand so successful? It attracts investment and revenues continue to grow.
Is it clever marketing that convinces so many that if its expensive it must be good – ‘aspirational’ products as Paltrow terms the products her brand sells? Is it that people are looking for products that are ‘better’ or ‘purer’ than others and simply buy into the ‘herbal’, ‘natural’ branding? Or is it simply the lure of being somehow associated with a celebrity that drives people to buy the products and attend the wellness summits? As one magazine article put in, Goop’s business depends upon “no one ever being able to be her (Gwyneth Paltrow)” – sounds about right.
Do you have something interesting you would like to share? Write to us at [email protected]
