Being associated with Kate Moss usually brings positive attention but not for the Hudson's Bay.
The Canadian retailer was forced to apologize after receiving complaints on Twitter for selling a t-shirt that featured the famous Moss quote: "Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels."
HBC customer Kathleen Pye, who found the shirt in one of the HBC Toronto stores, tweeted a photo of the controversial shirt, and wrote that the company was "unbelievably irresponsible" for promoting eating disorders.
This is at @TheHudsonsBayCo. Promoting #eatingdisorders is unbelievably irresponsible! #notbuyingit cc @couragesings pic.twitter.com/mCwbKkMhin
— Kathleen Pye (@KathleenCanada) June 24, 2014The company issued an apology to her:
Update on @TheHudsonsBayCo #tastesbetterthan tee: received sloppy, canned response to my emailed complaint. Excerpt: pic.twitter.com/syBy6u4MiC
— Kristin Foster (@KristinEff) June 24, 2014HBC eventually told customers on Twitter that they were removing the shirt on its online retail website and from stores.
.@KristinEff @bcuban Thanks for your feedback. It is very valuable to us. This t-shirt is being removed online and from stores immediately.
— Hudson's Bay (@TheHudsonsBayCo) June 24, 2014Despite the uproar, not everyone was offended by the shirt, which was made by Canadian Christopher Lee Sauvé, a designer whose signature is making fun of fashion and pop culture.
A few Twitter users voiced their support for the shirt:
I really like @chrissauve's "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" shirt. Don't think it promotes eating disorders at all @TheHudsonsBayCo
— Septembre Anderson (@SeptembreA) June 24, 2014@SeptembreA @chrissauve @TheHudsonsBayCo Completely agree! It's such a fun shirt. If you are offended, don't buy - simple. Oh the masses...
— Gail McInnes (@gailmcinnes) June 24, 2014#SaveSauve @chrissauve tees pulled from @TheHudsonsBayCo for all the wrong reasons. http://t.co/XZGlntZMep
— christian dare (@christiandare) June 24, 2014Sauvé also got a taste of social media hate, which he responded to on his Tumblr page:
"I am being bombarded with hate mail, tweets, Facebook messages from people protesting my design 'Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels' selling at The Hudson Bay and Patricia Field. The design was not intended to be pro-anorexia but the opposite. Clearly the nutritional label that is on the t-shirt states that you are not consuming any calories or nutrition by not eating therefor Kate Moss statement from 2009 is ridiculous and therefor the t-shirt is a protest against her actions and the absurd remarks that occur in the fashion industry as all of my work portrays."
Sauvé also shared his thoughts—albeit in a more direct matter—on Twitter before removing the tweet:
What do you think? Is the shirt offensive? Do you think it promotes eating disorders? Or is it just poking fun at the fashion industry? Sound off in the comments below.
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