Retailer apologizes after ‘fat shaming’ shirt receives backlash
To empower women who have been cyberbullied, the campaign featured shirts bearing some of those offensive statements. However, the choice of the fashion model quickly drew criticism.
When launching a marketing campaign, you must be careful about what you say—and who says it.
That’s the lesson most recently learned by clothing retailer Revolve, which saw a storm of online criticism and a rash of negative headlines in response to images of a thin model wearing a sweatshirt bearing a “fat shaming” expression.
AdAge reported:
A controversial sweatshirt reading, “Being fat is not beautiful, it’s an excuse,” is no longer for sale, following days of backlash and public outcry. The product, sold by Los Angeles-based retailer Revolve and part of a collaboration collection by brand LPA and others such as Lena Dunham, was pulled from Revolve’s site on Thursday.
Plus-size model Tess Holliday tweeted an image of the product, which has now been pulled from Revolve’s store.
LOLLLLL @REVOLVE y’all are a mess. pic.twitter.com/CrzOkd5oE4
— Tess Holliday 🥀 (@Tess_Holliday) September 12, 2018
Hello Giggles reported:
As outrage grew, Dunham issued a statement on Instagram:
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today
Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.
