Bath & Body Works apologized Thursday after people on social media compared the snowflake design of the new Snowed In candle to the white hoods worn by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
The three-wick Snowed In candle quickly went viral on X (formerly Twitter) after a user shared an image of the design and critics called for the candle to be removed.
The X people nicknamed the controversial candle ‘KKKandle’, ‘scandle’ and ‘klandle’.
Many people criticized the people behind the seasonal sconce, with one tweeting: “Bath & Body Works needs to fire all the people who approved this piece of candle art.”
The snowflake on the sail had two holes on the sides of its shafts, which X’s people said was reminiscent of the hoods and robes worn by the white supremacist group.
Bath & Body Works apologized Thursday after people on social media compared the design of the new Snowed In Snowflake candle to the white hoods worn by members of the Ku Klux Klan.
A Bath & Body Works spokesperson told TMZ, “We are committed to listening to our teams and customers and correcting any mistakes we make, even those that are unintentional.”
A Bath & Body Works spokesperson said TMZ“We are committed to listening to our teams and customers and correcting any mistakes we make, even unintentional ones like this one.”
The spokesperson said the popular mall brand is working to remove this item and it is no longer available on the retailer’s website.
One person tweeted: ‘Bath & Body Works removing that candle was a necessary step.’ How did that design get to the shelves? This is not just a misbranding; It’s a reminder of how sensitive cultural symbols can be. We hope they take this as a lesson in conscience and responsibility.”
Many people were quick to respond, with one saying: “It’s a paper snowflake friend” and another adding: “Ridiculous, stop trying to offend me over absolutely nothing.”
One person explained: “It’s clearly a paper snowflake similar to the ones kids make.”
One X user said: “This is a reminder of how ridiculous hyper-offended people can be and how they see ‘racism’ in absolutely everything.” I miss the days when they laughed at fools like them and ignored them.
In redditPeople were upset that they were damaging the candles and wrote: ‘Do you think they would at least relabel the candles instead of completely destroying them, now that I don’t get it?’
One person tweeted: ‘Bath & Body Works removing that candle was a necessary step.’ How did that design get to the shelves?
The fashion Instagram account Prada Diet broke the controversy and explained that this is not ‘the first time the company has been accused of being racially insensitive.
In February 2022, the Columbus, Ohio-based company launched ‘its most popular scents covered in Kente print for Black History Month.’
Many people on social media criticized the brand for being performative at the time.
However, not all Instagram commenters agreed with Diet Prada and thought the candle was offensive.
One wrote: “It’s literally a snowflake,” and another person chimed in: “It’s just a poorly executed design that shouldn’t have been approved.” Just lazy. Don’t think they were trying to stir up racial unrest, it’s just ugly.