Bath and Body Works has stopped selling its new winter-themed candle over backlash from shoppers who said its design resembled Ku Klux Klan hoods.
The controversy came to the forefront after some commenters online criticized the retailer for the paper snowflake design as it resembled the hoods worn by Klansmembers.
The Ku Klux Klan is a U.S. white supremacist group formed in 1865 to inflict violence and terror against Black Americans. The imagery of the KKK hood has become a hate symbol, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Bath and Body Works Canada shared an apology about the Snowed In candle with CTVNews.ca on Friday, saying it was a mistake.
“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,” the company said in an emailed statement.
“We apologize to anyone we’ve offended and are swiftly working to have this item removed and evaluating our process going forward.”
The candle attracted a lot of attention online when it was first reportedly unveiled last week.
“How did they not see that coming? glad they took it down tho. Sometimes companies really need to double-check their designs before dropping them,” wrote X user Nathalie May (@nathaliemayy) on Oct. 10, which was among comments in response to a TMZ post about the candle.
“It looks like little Alien Klansmen,” wrote another user called Тσnι (@DymeLatte).
But not everyone agreed it was offensive.
“This is actually just stupid,” ChaoticNerd (@nerds4nerds) wrote. “There is nothing racist about this. People are looking for reasons to race bait.”
Candles have become a staple for the company beyond soaps and lotions. Its holiday-scented candles make up nearly 40 per cent of its annual sales, according to an analyst.
With files from CNN