Walmart: Sorry We Advertised Costumes for 'Fat Girls'

Company switches label to 'Women's Plus-Size'
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 28, 2014 11:54 AM CDT
Walmart: Sorry We Advertised Costumes for 'Fat Girls'
Walmart has apologized for its "fat girl costumes" label.   (AP Photo/Chris Stewart)

Walmart is feeling the heat after Twitter users caught an alarming label on the company's website: It advertised plus-size Halloween outfits in a category dubbed "Fat Girl Costumes," Time reports. "This never should have been on our site. It is unacceptable, and we apologize," the company tells People. The label has now been switched to "Women's Plus-Size Halloween Costumes," but that didn't stop "Fat Girl Costumes" from trending on Twitter.

Jezebel figures the "Fat Girl" error must have been a Web developer's joke that wasn't edited. Adweek, meanwhile, suggests that the title might have been "automatically generated from some of the descriptive metadata supplied by low-budget vendors." Either way, Jezebel notes, the company has been auto-replying apologies to angry tweets. The controversy comes a few months after the company faced a backlash over a concentration camp poster. (More Walmart stories.)

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