Bath & Body Works in a statement on Monday apologized for selling a candle with a design that some people said resembles Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hoods.
The candle, titled “Snowed In,” featured a design intended to represent a snowflake cut from paper. However, some of the details—specifically, white, cone-shaped outer edges and two central cutouts—prompted comparisons to the notorious hoods worn by members of the KKK, an American white supremacist terrorist group that emerged after millions of Black people were freed in the wake of the Civil War ending.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the KKK is the oldest hate group in America and was created to enforce violence and terror against newly freed people.
Bath & Body Works, which is known for its fragranced candles and lotions, has since pulled the “Snowed In” candle from their website, and it is no longer available to purchase.
Addressing the controversy, a Bath & Body Works spokesperson stated on Monday that the design was unintentional and issued an apology, assuring customers that the product had been removed and that internal processes were under review to prevent future missteps.
“We apologize to anyone we’ve offended and are swiftly working to have this item removed and are evaluating our process going forward,” the spokesperson said.
A Bath & Body Works store is shown on May 21, 2020, in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. Bath & Body Works in a statement on Monday apologized for selling a candle with a design that some people said resembles Ku Klux Klan hoods.
Tony Dejak/AP
Although the product was only briefly available online, its appearance ignited a wave of criticism on social media.
“I have never seen a snowflake that looks like that,” one Instagram user commented, according to The Associated Press (AP).
“This wasn’t an accident,” said another, per the AP.
The candle also sparked discussion on Reddit, with users creating a thread called “KKKKandles” as some people pointed out that when the item is lit, the candlelight could shine through the holes in the snowflakes.
“Oh god the background colors and the little holes in the label make it look like they are standing in front of a fire…the bad kind of fire lol,” one user wrote on Reddit.
The design was defended by some online users, who said it was a simple case of bad design execution.
“It’s just a poorly executed design – that shouldn’t have been approved,” one Instagram user wrote, per the AP.
“This is a paper snowflake. I would not have looked at that and thought it was a racist candle,” said another, the AP reported.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time Bath & Body Works has come under fire from consumers for new products.
In 2022, in an effort to celebrate Black History Month, Bath & Body Works released a product line that featured Kente cloth designs. According to Baylor University, Kente cloth is a Ghanaian textile made of hand-woven strips of silk and cotton and is historically worn by people in Ghana during ceremonial events and special occasions.
While the company partnered with organizations such as the National Urban League, a civil rights group, on the 2022 campaign, some people accused the company of cultural appropriation.
A Bath & Body Works spokesperson at that time released a statement declaring that the company was “committed to improving our culture through our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and part of that work has been to celebrate cultural milestones and moments— including Black History Month” and that Bath & Body Works would donate $500,000 to support the non-profits’ work.
This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.
