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“To me, it's all laddering
up to one thing, which is optimization of self.”
Goop has become the subject of countless controversies
thanks to its outlandish claims and downright baffling products --
so why is Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness
and lifestyle empire more powerful and lucrative than ever?
In recent years, the brand has seen
numerous articles and videos (and even a lawsuit)
debunk its pseudo-science-y claims, “Goop does not have the right
to market its products using disease treatment claims.”,
while pop culture largely treats Goop
as a laughingstock. “There’s no animals involved,
all the testing and cruelty is done on and to the staff.”
But this has done nothing to harm
(and has seemingly even driven) the company’s profits.
In addition to harnessing Paltrow’s aspirational appeal
to WASP-y women worldwide, Goop is perfectly positioned
to capitalize on a climate in which
willful ignorance to facts is becoming a political stance,
in which people are conditioned to avoid aging at all costs,
and in which they’re encouraged to take
individual control of their own “wellness”
(however ill-advised that may sometimes be).
Here’s our take on why Goop’s infamy
has only served to make it more successful,
and how the shopping company is a mirror of today’s
wellness industry at large. “At goop you can find
everything you need for a life of elegant wellness”
“an $84 water bottle with an amethyst crystal
inside to infuse water with positive energy”
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“One of the things We like to do on goop
Is find kind of what alternative -- The alternative world
says about feeling good In the modern day world.”
What even is goop, really? At times,
Gwyneth Paltrow herself hasn't seemed sure.
"You’ve never been on this website before
have you?" The brand is usually described
as being centered on wellness, yet this is a term
(and an industry) loaded with confusing,
sometimes controversial implications. The idea of “wellness culture”
emerged as part of the self-care movement,
which began primarily among millennials,
promoting practices like yoga, meditation, and aromatherapy.
The practice of self-care can have many mental
and physical benefits for some people.
On a societal level, the idea of self-care
has helped destigmatize mental illness
and encourage prioritizing one’s health.
And in particular, the wellness industry targeted women --
as Taffy Brodesser-Akner writes for the New York Times,
“The minute the phrase ‘having it all’
lost favor among women, wellness came in
to pick up the pieces.” Wellness wasn’t about achievements,
but a way for women to finally put themselves first.
Yet companies like Goop have increasingly equated
the idea of self-care with spending money.
This has created a kind of paradox,
as the core tenets of wellness consist of solid advice
that we could all probably use. “You can learn a simple,
accessible daily practice that can give you the time
to slow down, reflect, and maybe feel better.”
But companies have exploited the hugely lucrative
wellness and self-care market to sell more and more
unnecessary and unproven products in the name of self-care.
“With people flogging expensive programs and diets and books
claiming to hold the secret of how to live
to 120 years old or cure cancer.”
Goop isn’t selling just any wellness lifestyle --
it’s selling ​​Gwyneth Paltrow’s. “I believe beauty and wellness
are inextricably linked.” One of Hollywood’s
most glamorous and well-known actors, Paltrow launched Goop in 2008
as a weekly lifestyle newsletter for friends,
until one of Paltrow’s followers, venture capitalist Juliet de Baubigny,
suggested that Paltrow could be making money
off of her endorsements. The company name
came from Paltrow’s initials, GP,
and a tidbit of advice she heard that successful websites
have double-o’s in their names.
And de Baubigny’s intuition was correct --
Goop released its show The Goop Lab
on Netflix in 2020 and is now valued
at over $250 million. Goop markets itself in part
on the desires of customers to be like Gwyneth.
This is very explicit on the Goop website,
which refers casually to Paltrow as “G.P.,”
discusses her using various products throughout its copy,
and includes pictures of her wearing Goop’s clothes
in features inviting you to look inside “G.P’s shopping cart.”
But Paltrow herself is wealthy, white, and beautiful,
not to mention a famous Oscar-winning actress.
“You have everything. You’re beautiful.
You’re wealthy. You’re famous.”
And since Paltrow’s lifestyle is practically impossible to emulate
for the average consumer, goop’s “aspirational”
marketing strategy means that customers
will keep coming back -- because there’s always something else
they’ll need to buy. In other words,
while the Goop website may speak the language of wellness,
it’s at least as much about shopping.
As Brodesser-Akner points out, Goop has managed to combine
both sides of Paltrow -- the earthy, hippie G.P.
who tries remedies like vaginal steaming
(which doctors have since reported is a bad idea)
and the uber-rich, famous G.P.,
who wears exclusive designer clothing -- into one, unattainable lifestyle
that reflects the contradictions of the wellness industry today.
“Obviously at Goop we're very into health
and wellness and fitness, we believe you should look chic
while you work out.” Goop’s emphasis on luxury
is in direct contrast to other lifestyle brands
which have sprung from famous women, like Martha Stewart’s,
whose lifestyle became accessible to everyone
as soon as her products arrived in department stores.
Many of Goop’s products, on the other hand,
are expensive to the point of absurdity --
see: $125,000 gold dumbbells, a $244 toothpaste squeezer,
and a $3,000 jellyfish aquarium. “Goop,
which offers a $28 exfoliating mud bar,
which is great if you’re the kind of person
who takes a shower to get dirtier.” The price point
for many of Goop’s products means that they aren’t accessible
to a majority of consumers, and this keeps
the very idea of wellness as something associated with
and available only to the wealthy.
Goop has even managed to market the act
of spending money as luxurious. As Amanda Mull writes
for The Atlantic, “When the hook is
‘your problem matters,’ whatever package of vitamins
or tube of lotion gets thrown in the bag
is almost beside the point. The act of buying from a business
that makes you feel cared for and understood
can seem like a course of treatment in and of itself.”
Goop’s holistic approach of selling not just products
but a lifestyle that only continues to expand through
the introduction of conferences, seminars, retreats,
and even Goop cruises. “For tickets starting at $1,000,
you can take a fitness class, get gently stretched
by a master pilates instructor; you can eat
a delicate pile of leaves.” Goop has famously been
the subject of a number of scandals
throughout the years over its claims
about certain products. The company settled
a $145,000 lawsuit in 2018 over unsubstantiated claims
about its jade and rose-quartz eggs, which were advertised to improve
everything from hormones to menstrual cycles
when inserted into the vagina. “To help tone the pelvic floor.”
“How does it do that?” “I don’t know.”
These high-profile controversies have inspired a flood of mockery
and parodies about Goop. “Oh, hi,
I was just enjoying my lifestyle. Like I do every day.
Here in my living woods.” So you might expect
that after the onslaught of criticism, “exposé”-style pieces
and comedy about the company, enthusiasm for Goop
would have waned. Instead,
Goop seems to have proved the adage “there’s no such thing
as bad publicity,” managing to capitalize
on this controversial press to drive more traffic
to their website -- and their products.
“They go, ‘Gwyneth Paltrow’s crazy,’
and you go, ‘yeah, very crazy,
very very rich, and very crazy.’”
Goop’s haters have transformed the company
into a symbol of resistance for people who want alternatives
to Western medicine. As Brodesser-Akner writes,
“Now Goop was a cause, and G.P. was its martyr.”
On one hand, it’s important to recognize
there are some good reasons why wellness practices
based on alternatives to Western medicine
have gained popularity in recent years.
Some people do find a lot of help
through alternative medicine -- especially when
it’s for issues that Western medicine
typically doesn’t have good cures for.
“Sometimes there are not double-blind studies behind,
you know, the benefits of acupuncture.
If people are feeling better because they’re trying these things
and doing these things I think it’s very worthwhile.”
And many people today are seeking out
alternative methods of treatment, including “natural remedies”
like the ones the goop lab showcases,
such as the controlled use of psychedelic mushrooms
or MDMA. Women especially have had
many health problems -- either physical or mental --
dismissed by doctors. Is it any wonder
they would start to seek out other advice,
especially when that advice comes from a beautiful,
successful woman like Paltrow? But as the politicized,
polarizing debate has grown in the US
between hard science and home remedies,
this has pushed Goop further into the spotlight
as a champion for people who are skeptical
of Western medical practices. “What we try to do at goop
is to be open-minded and explore ideas
that may seem out there or too scary,
so that people can have access to the information
and make up their own minds.” The increased support for Goop
in spite of or even because
of its being shamed for questionable recommendations
directly corresponds to the rising support
for pseudoscience in the Trump age. In an era when
believing in science feels more crucial than ever
to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and address the catastrophic
coming effects of climate change,
people are counterintuitively turning away from science
and trusting in sources of misinformation.
And even though we now do have
the technology to treat many health problems --
including a totally safe/FDA-approved
COVID vaccine -- people are increasingly refusing
even these proven options, believing them to be part
of a greater conspiracy. “When people receive
most of their information about COVID-19 and vaccination
from social media they're more likely
to be misinformed and they're less likely
to get vaccinated” The added fuel
to the Eastern-Western medicine debate
has only made Goop more notorious
to both its followers and debunkers,
making it both the target and beneficiary
of today’s culture wars. The complexity of this moment
is also reflected in the shift
in Paltrow’s personal reputation -- the actress was once
a media darling, beloved by the same liberals
who now express contempt for Goop, while the online hate
directed at Paltrow as a person
can be surprising in its intensity. Her role as a luxury wellness CEO
is in part so jarring because she’s revealing
that she’s not a collection of the sensitive, intellectual,
ingenue characters audiences have associated her with
for decades. “When I started goop in 2008,
I was like, ‘my calling is something else,
besides, you know, making out with Matt Damon
onscreen or whatever.”]
Goop’s response
to negative press has been similar
to other science-deniers: they acknowledge their claims
are not fact, but continue to make them.
The fundamental problem with Goop isn’t that it’s interested
in “wellness” treatments that aren’t scientific;
the problem is that it profits off of ignorance
and confusion about science, refusing to provide
more concrete facts and ultimately marketing
this pseudoscience as luxurious. “They say that amethyst --
I think it’s supposed to be heart-opening or
something like that…” “Who says this?”
“I don’t know!”
Goop preaches an open-minded view, claiming that they are simply
“asking questions” about alternative solutions
to common issues. “We are all free thinkers
and able to do things and try things
that might benefit our wellness.” But asking these questions without
the proper scientific context conveniently displays
Goop’s products without any opposing viewpoints,
while conveniently absolving the company of any blame
should their treatments be disproven --
or worse, have unintended consequences
on customers. One woman actually died
after undergoing bee-venom therapy, a treatment backed by Paltrow
in a 2016 New York Times interview. With no option to review products
on Goop’s website, these claims --
despite the company’s own acknowledgement
that they may be false -- have an impact on customers,
who may decide to undergo treatments or use products
that have unforeseen and potentially dangerous side effects.
“Goop is using deceptive marketing
to tell consumers it has products that can treat,
cure or prevent a host of diseases and disorders.”
Goop has taken some steps in recent years
to recruit actual scientists and fact-checkers to their team,
as well as more clearly differentiate
between medical versus recreational or unproven treatments
to their customers. And the company has also used
their platform and influence to promote more open conversations
surrounding female pleasure and sexual wellness.
This is a positive message (at least in theory)
“Goop is such a safe environment for me to explore
my sexual wellness.” In the Goop Lab episode
centered on sexual wellness, the show does a good job
focusing on access to sexual education and information,
rather than products, to help women achieve
greater sexual fulfillment. “We can’t receive pleasure
that we don’t ask for.” Yet all of this Goop content
surrounded around vaginas, femininity, and sexual pleasure
in the end really feels like creative advertising.
It’s focused on selling feminism as a product --
like their infamous “vagina-scented candles”
“What a punk rock, feminist statement to have
that on your table.” -- instead of a true message
for change on a societal level. While this marketing campaign
may encourage some women to explore their sexuality,
in the end, like with everything,
Goop is simply using this ideology to power shopping.
To see the truth behind goop’s women-centric marketing and
superficially feminist message, you only need to look
at how they treat aging. Aligning with the
patriarchal double-standard that women must appear young
to be beautiful, while men can be attractive
at all ages, Goop seems to approach aging
as a problem to stave off at all costs.
“I think people everywhere are incredibly concerned
with their appearance and how they’re aging physically.”
Rather than empowering women to embrace their age,
Goop makes and promotes several products --
from skincare to supplements -- which claim to slow down
this natural process. Paltrow herself participated
in a Goop Lab episode on aging, where she went
on an intense fasting diet and tried out a vampire facial
to promote collagen growth. “Now I’m gonna collect
your golden broth from your own body”
“Oh my god. My golden broth?”
While it’s sound advice to take preventative measures
like maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine
to avoid chronic diseases and mitigate the
physical discomforts of aging, Goop places its emphasis
instead on products which make you look younger.
It also raises the question of how harmful
this “wellness” approach to aging really is --
especially since the science behind so many
of these treatments and products is still unproven.
And marketing these fad diets as healthy for women
could negatively impact young girls,
like Gwyneth’s daughter Apple, who films part of this episode.
“You had 500 calories today.” “I think so.”
In the end, just like Goop’s feminist message,
the company’s efforts to encourage women
to take back their sexuality or health
are really aimed at selling products, when even the Goop team
acknowledges that the best ways to prevent
the bad parts of aging aren’t available for purchase.
“It’s like you say, the tenets of wellness
are typically free.” Goop works primarily
through selling a false message --
that through products, the average woman
can be like its iconic founder.
But whether or not Goop has a moral
or ethical obligation to better educate its customers
on the truth behind its products,
the company has only been able to maintain its success
thanks to the actions and decisions of consumers
who want what Goop is selling
“Just finished this really super healing cleanse
I read about on Goop.”
Consumers of Goop only make it more powerful,
even while potentially suffering negative consequences themselves,
opening themselves up to becoming victims of misinformation,
unattainable expectations, and financial drain.
So, is there any saving grace? Can simply the act of buying
luxury wellness products -- regardless of whether or not
they actually work -- make you feel better?
Studies have shown that retail therapy
can have positive psychological effects
by allowing people to feel they’re exercising control
over their lives through purchases. At the same time,
these benefits can be outweighed if people spend outside
of their budgets, instead leading
to stress and guilt. A study out of Boston College
and Harvard Business School found that specifically
purchasing luxury items can actually backfire
by making consumers feel less authentic,
negating the psychological benefits that they would otherwise gain
from these purchases. So despite Goop’s
flashy marketing and sometimes-compelling messages
engaging in the Eastern-Western medicine debate,
you’re probably better off taking their claims
with a grain of salt -- and saving money
while you’re at it. "Tell us about earthing."
"So earthing, I don't actually know
that much about earthing."
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