A high-street retailer found itself in a bit of bother with some of its customers yesterday after featuring a product with a well-known pro-anorexic slogan.
More: Joan Bakewell apologises for “anorexia is narcissism” comment
In a massive PR fail B&M stores, which has branches across the U.K., has been selling a set of scales with “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels” written on them.
Shoutout to B&M Bargains for using pro-eating disorder propaganda on their products. How nice and considerate 😊😊😊 pic.twitter.com/EZrGNiDdmk
— megan hartshorne (@meganharts) March 27, 2016
The phrase was apparently uttered by supermodel Kate Moss who, during a 2009 interview with fashion news website WWD, was asked if she had any mottos.
“There are loads of mottos,” she replied. “There’s ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.’ That’s one of them.”
“You try and remember but it never works,” she added.
After her comments were picked up by the mainstream media critics were quick to slam Moss for being irresponsible, saying that as a role model to millions of girls and young women, she could encourage more of them to lose an unhealthy amount of weight in order to achieve the “skinny” look.
Since then the phrase has been adopted by pro-anorexic websites and inspired hundreds of Internet memes.
More: Learning more about anorexia may help you save someone’s life
Yesterday Twitter users expressed their concerns over B&M Stores’ decision to sell a product featuring the controversial saying.
One user accused the company of “promoting eating disorders to gain a bit of cash,” while another called it “horrific” and “disgusting.”
“Apparently someone working for @bmstores has the IQ of a piece of toast and decided to put a popular pro-ana slogan on their scales” was another comment.
“This is a really problematic pro-ED phrase. So dangerous to put this where kids & sufferers can see,” pointed out another Twitter user.
This morning B&M Stores responded to some of the comments, tweeting that “We have asked its supplier to withdraw this particular quotation from this range of novelty £3.99 weighing scales.”
Hi @bones_exp0sed We have asked its supplier to withdraw this particular quotation from this range of novelty £3.99 weighing scales
— B&M Stores (@bmstores) March 29, 2016
Sorry B&M Stores but this doesn’t go far enough. For starters it’s not clear whether you’re withdrawing the product from sale. Nor does it offer any sort of apology or acknowledgement that a mistake has been made.
So far mental health and eating disorder charities such as Mind and Beat haven’t commented on the product.
If you are affected by any of the issues in this article please contact Beat for support.
What do you think of this product and the response from B&M Stores? Let us know your thoughts below.
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