Bath & Body Works: Sorry About KKK-Looking Candles

Bath & Body Works thought it was releasing a candle with a label design that looked like a paper cutout of a snowflake. What many people saw on the label of the "Snowed In" candle, however, was a chain of tiny Ku Klux Klan members. (See an image of the label here.) Following backlash to the candle, Bath & Body Works has now pulled it from shelves, the Washington Post reports. The chain says that while it never intended for its design to resemble KKK hoods, the company is "committed to listening to our teams and customers, and committed to fixing any mistakes we make. ... We apologize to anyone we've offended and are swiftly working to have this item removed and are evaluating our process going forward."

While many online were taken aback by the design, which features what could appear to be a cone-shaped white hood with cutouts for the eyes, there were some commenters who found the whole thing overblown, like one who commented on this post, the Guardian reports. "As an actual POC, a black woman, this is a reach. People are so soft and offended by everything these days. It looks like a school snowflake cutout. Stop the fake outrage." Many others, however, expressed relief that it was being pulled. "I am gobsmacked at how this design got produced in the first place," wrote one. (More Ku Klux Klan stories.)