Bath & Body Works was forced to pull one of their holiday candles from shelves after critics questioned the design, comparing it to Ku Klux Klan hoods.
The candle, “Snowed In”, was decorated with a paper snowflake, but the design led many to believe the retailer was going for another look.
“Out of all the ‘paper snowflake’ designs to go with, they go with this one? i’ve made a lot of paper snowflakes as a kid and none of them ever had two eye holes in the point,” one critic wrote on Reddit.
Some said they initially saw little aliens while others didn’t see any issue with the candle.
“Stop with your ignorance! That’s a paper cut out candle. Just stop!” an Instagram user wrote.
“To be fair guys, as a graphic artist, they probably didn’t notice after they cropped the image lol” someone else said, coming to the graphic artist’s defense.
Bath & Body Works needs to fire all the people who approved this candle artwork 🤦🏻♀️ pic.twitter.com/jkHpVtN503
— Ash (@ash_like_whoa) October 8, 2024
However, enough claimed they couldn’t unsee the similarity between the hoods and robes worn by Klansmembers at a KKK meeting forcing Bath & Body Works to remove the candle from their website and stores.
“This wasn’t an accident,” one Instagram poster alleged.
“Reason number 100000000 why you need BIPOC people in business, at the table, in reviews and making decisions,” another user wrote.
The company shared a statement with CNN claiming the design was “unintentional.”
“At Bath and Body Works, we are committed to listening to our teams and customers, and committed to fixing any mistakes we make-even those that are unintentional like this one,” a spokesperson said. “We apologize to anyone we’ve offended and are swiftly working to have this item removed and are evaluating our process going forward.”
This isn’t the first time Bath & Body Works has been caught up in controversy. In 2022, the company was accused of cultural appropriation when they partnered with the National Urban League and released a product line celebrating Black History Month.
“A genuine effort to ‘promote economic empowerment’ would be to sponsor genuine African or African-American artists in their packaging or advertisements, or better yet to sponsor actual African or African American artisans by selling or advertising their own products — oils, candles, lotions and textiles in Bath & Body Works stores or on their website,” Winifred Johnson, assistant professor of history at Bethune-Cookman University, told The News-Journal.
What do you see on Bath & Body Works’ “Snowed In” candle? Let us know in the comments!