There's A Fake Lululemon Brand Ambassador Recruitment Post Going Around On Instagram

If you found yourself scrolling through the Instagram explore page any time over the last couple of days, then you may have come across a post or two claiming to be recruiting brand ambassadors for Lululemon. I hate to dash any dreams you may have of becoming an official Instagram #influencer and getting all the free leggings, but the Lululemon brand ambassador recruitment Instagram posts are definitely not legit, BuzzFeed News reports.

Earlier this week, several different Instagram accounts — each including some variation of "Lululemon" and "recruitment" in the name — posted an image requesting follows and reposts in exchange for a chance to represent the brand. "We are looking for 150 ambassadors for our upcoming clothing season," reads the text in the post. "You will receive free shipments of Lululemon clothing and accessories monthly." The first fishy sign, though, in my opinion at least, is that the minimum follower count is listed at 150, which seems a little low for a huge brand like Lululemon.

In addition to claiming you can become an ambassador for the athletic apparel brand, the fake callout describes other apparent perks to following @lulurecruitment.us and reposting the below image, such as free clothing and products, first dibs on new items, as well as gift cards and discounts. Those who were "selected," according to the fake callout, would be notified via direct message by Dec. 31.

But the actual Lululemon company has been relatively quick to comment on the legitimacy — or lack thereof — of this crop of posts. "Lululemon is not associated with this account and we are working with Instagram to have it removed," a Lululemon spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. Elite Daily has reached out to Lululemon for additional comment on the fake brand ambassador callouts, but did not hear back by time of publication.

Lululemon has also confirmed via Twitter that these Instagram posts claiming to search for brand ambassadors are "not legitimate or associated with us," and that the company is working to resolve the issue.

The Instagram accounts associated with these posts have amassed quite a lot of followers in a relatively short amount of time. For instance, one account with the handle @lulurecruitment.us, which posted the fake recruitment callout on Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, already has more than 24,000 followers, and another account with the handle @lulurecruitment.co, which posted the fake callout on the same day, is currently nearing 22,000 followers. Interestingly enough, another apparent ploy, at least for one of these accounts, doesn't seem to be calling for engagement or followers on Instagram, but rather, app downloads.

A photo posted as an Instagram Story Highlight to the account @lulurecruitment.us seems to be trying to gain downloads for an app called Sweatcoin, which offers rewards for hitting certain step counts, and is currently one of the top downloads in the health and fitness category of the Apple store. "Swipe up and download the app to be entered 2x," the Instagram Story Highlight post says.

While some of the Apple store reviews appear to rate Sweatcoin favorably at around five stars, there are also some reviews claiming the app is actually a scam. "The app does not count 2/3 of your steps and even when you become eligible for some rewards by collecting sweat coins, it marks all of the rewards as sold out or unavailable," wrote one reviewer. Elite Daily has reached out to Sweatcoin about these claims, as well as its apparent association with the fake Lululemon brand ambassador recruitment posts, but did not hear back by time of publication.

So what does the process for becoming an actual brand ambassador for Lululemon look like? The ambassador information on the company's official website describes three pillar characteristics of what the brand is looking for in its partners: sweat ("you're a community leader who loves to sweat and make a positive impact"), growth ("you're committed to growth—whether that's in your community, personally or professionally"), and bond ("meaningful connections are everything").

In other words, to become a brand ambassador for Lululemon, as per the company's website, there is no requirement to follow any specific Instagram accounts, nor is there any need to post something to social media. The website says that if the characteristics listed above sound like you, you should "come visit us and let's get this conversation started," and it includes a link to a search tool to help you find locations in your area.

So, if you think you're a great fit for the Lululemon brand ambassador program, your best bet is to go into a store and talk with someone who actually works there.