Branding with Buddha

The banner on San Francisco’s American Buddhist Cultural Society tells us that Sunday, May 4, is Buddha’s birthday.

Buddha’s birthday is not a fixed date, according to this article.

 

 

In celebration, let’s hear the sound of one hand clapping for these Buddha brand names:

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Big Buddha. “Animal-friendly” handbag company headquartered in Santa Cruz, California; acquired in 2010 by Steve Madden.

 

“love big. live buddha.”

 

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Super Buddha. “An international collective of people like you. You are all the Buddha.” Based in Santa Barbara, California; sells T-shirts and yoga bags.

 

 

 

 

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Buddhify. iOS app that promises “modern mindfulness wherever you are.”

 

From the website:

buddhify is made by 21awake, a small company based in the UK. We work on products that use popular technology to actually make people's inner lives better.

 

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Neon Buddha. Canadian “lifestyle collection” of clothing for travel, yoga, and work.

“Nirvana for your body and soul.”

 

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Phat Buddha. Yogawear brand launched in 2008 by New Yorker Alissa Benishai. The clothing incorporates “luxe extras such as glitter, studs and jewels and other couture-minded details.”

Despite the similarity of the drawings, Phat Buddha and Neon Buddha are not connected.

 

Interviewed by the New York Times in early April, Benishai said she “uses seamless fabric to create one-size-fits-many bras, leggings and tops, so there’s no potentially insulting size to be proffered helpfully over the dressing-room door”:

Ms. Benishai named her label Phat Buddha, after her favorite part of Bikram yoga class: When it’s over, there’s a breathing exercise in which the teacher tells the class to “let your Buddha belly hang out.”

“They close the lights at that point so nobody is looking at my fat belly, and I can let it all go and not judge myself,” she said.

Benishai wears a size 4.

 

UPDATE: Many thanks to commenter Q. Pheevr for the link to Alex Hickey’s “Buy More Buddhas” (video).

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Related: Zen brands.

Comments

[Q. Pheevr]

All these predictably named yoga gear companies remind me of a song by Alex Hickey. It's called "Buy More Buddhas": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGLv1spSDrU