Bath & Body Works
Bath & Body Works is a popular store for holiday shopping, selling soaps, scents, and candles. But this year they’re in some hot water after customers pointed out that the art on one of the company’s candles reminds them of a well-known American hate group.
The candle’s label is decorated with stylized paper snowflake designs, but customers on social media pointed out that it resembles the white hoods and robes famously used by Ku Klux Klan members. The imagery is similar to a pointed white hood with round cut-outs for eyes, something that most Americans would probably associate with the KKK.
The candle is winter-themed and called Snowed In, according to the label. It’s a large 3-wick candle with a mauve label behind the white paper cutout snowflake design. The fragrance is “creamy buttermint, sweet musk, cozy vanilla.”
The company has stopped selling the Snowed In candle in stores and on the Bath & Body Works website. According to The Washington Post, store employees have been instructed to remove the candles' labels and dispose of them in opaque bags.
In a statement, Bath & Body Works said that the resemblance was unintentional. “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,” a spokesperson told CNN. “We apologize to anyone we’ve offended and are swiftly working to have this item removed and are evaluating our process going forward.”
The internet is having a field day with this gaffe, and most people don’t understand how the label design could have been approved in the first place. “Out of all the 'paper snowflake' designs to go with, they go with this one?,”said u/babybingen on Reddit. “I've made a lot of paper snowflakes as a kid and none of them ever had two eye holes in the point.”
“The Klan Krismas Kandle?!? No thank you ma’am,” said u/PriceFragrant1657. Another commenter responded by calling it a “klandle.”
And of course some people who had already purchased the candle have put it up for auction on eBay to try and make a quick buck. Prices range from $11 for the candle without the label (or $13 if you want the label only), to $1,000 for the labeled candle.
If you think this KKK-related gaffe is bad, there’s many more where that came from because companies screw up in big ways all the time. That includes Walmart trying to profit off Juneteenth with ice cream, a tactless children’s museum’s watermelon salad, and KFC using a German Holocaust remembrance day to try and sell chicken.
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