Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop is in the spotlight yet again, this time with a new Netflix mini-series that brings the brand’s particular variety of New Age, fringe/cutting-edge (depending on who you are) wellness solutions to the homes of the masses.

As we’ve now come to expect, even the announcement of the series was provocative, with a poster featuring Paltrow set on a background that could have been created by Georgia O’Keefe (if the artist lost all sense of subtlety and nuance) with the tagline “Reach New Depths.”

Making Headlines Since 2008

In a session at the NRF show earlier this month, Paltrow said her brand doesn’t seek out controversy, yet since its debut in 2008, Goop has regularly garnered attention for its radical-verging-on-ridiculous medical claims and wellness products.

Whether or not Goop consciously pursues controversy remains up for discussion, but the brand certainly embraces it. You don’t make a $76 candle called “This Smells Like My Vagina” without expecting people to react.

And react they do. People love to laugh at the Goop brand, which has even inspired a satirized spin-off from comedian Stephen Colbert.

The Goop Life

One would think this kind of ridicule would have killed the brand years ago, and yet Goop continues to grow and expand. In fact, the latest valuation available for the private company puts its worth at a whopping $250 million. Someone is buying all those jade eggs and bio-frequency healing stickers.

So, what is Goop – laughingstock or legitimate purveyor of luxury wellness solutions? Somehow, the brand manages to be both, an impressive feat when you consider it. To a certain, niche sub-set of consumers, the Goop brand’s offerings are appealing, and for the rest, it’s great entertainment. Regardless what group you fall in to, you certainly don’t want the fun to stop. In fact, the very fact that so many people find Goop so funny, actually helps perpetuate the inclusivity that drives brand loyalty: “Laugh at us if you want, you just don’t get it because you’re not one of us.”

What remains to be seen is if Goop can maintain this delicate balance as it increasingly makes a play for the mass market. (This month alone – a product launch at Sephora, a cruise experience and of course, Netflix.)