People don't usually look at a candle and see a hate symbol. But in late 2024, that’s exactly what happened when Bath and Body Works released its "Snowed In" collection. It started with a simple image of a paper-cutout snowflake on a Winter Candy Apple candle. To most, it was just seasonal decor. To others, the pointy white hoods and eye slits looked strikingly like the robes worn by the Ku Klux Klan.
Social media moved fast. Faster than a PR team on a Friday evening. Within hours, photos of the candle were everywhere, accompanied by disbelief and a lot of valid anger. This wasn't just a minor "oops" in the eyes of the public; it was a massive oversight in a $7 billion company's design process. The Bath and Body Works apology followed shortly after, but the ripples are still felt in how retail giants manage brand safety today.
Why the Bath and Body Works Apology Had to Be Swift
Speed matters. If a company waits three days to address a crisis, the internet has already written the narrative for them. Bath and Body Works didn't wait. They pulled the product from the website and stores almost immediately after the backlash peaked.
The core of the issue wasn't intentional malice. It’s highly unlikely a designer at a major fragrance brand sat down to create a racist candle. It’s much more likely a case of "design blindness." When you look at a stylized snowflake from one angle, it’s just a shape. From another, it’s a symbol of hate. The company’s statement was direct: they apologized for any unintended resemblance to "unacceptable symbols" and confirmed the product was being scrubbed from their inventory.
Honestly, the apology was about as "corporate textbook" as it gets. It was a "we messed up, we’re sorry, we’re doing better" message. But was it enough? For many, the question wasn't about the apology itself, but how that design got through ten levels of corporate approval without a single person saying, "Hey, wait a minute."
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The Anatomy of a Design Failure
How does this happen at a company with thousands of employees? You've got creative directors, product managers, legal teams, and marketing experts. You’d think someone would have caught it.
The reality of corporate design is often a blur of deadlines and high-volume output. Bath and Body Works drops hundreds of new labels every year. It’s a machine. When you’re looking at a 2D digital mockup of a paper-cutout snowflake, you’re thinking about the "Snowed In" theme. You aren't necessarily looking for negative space that forms a hood. It’s a classic case of lack of diversity in the room. If the people reviewing the art don't have the lived experience or the cultural sensitivity to recognize those shapes, they stay invisible until the public points them out.
Context Matters: This Isn’t Their First Rodeo
Retail is a minefield. Bath and Body Works has faced smaller scuffles before, usually regarding ingredient transparency or packaging similarities to other brands. But the "Snowed In" candle was different. It hit a nerve regarding systemic racism and corporate accountability.
Some shoppers defended the brand. They called it "cancel culture" run amok. They argued that a snowflake is just a snowflake. But the brand knew they couldn't take that risk. In the business world, perception is reality. If 20% of your customer base sees a hate symbol on your shelf, you have a crisis, regardless of your "intent."
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The Financial Hit of a Recall
Pulling a flagship scent like Winter Candy Apple—even just one specific packaging design—is expensive. We’re talking about manufacturing costs, shipping, floor space, and the loss of potential sales during the peak holiday season.
- Logistics: Store managers had to physically remove items from shelves and ship them back or destroy them.
- Inventory: Thousands of units became unsellable overnight.
- Brand Equity: Trust is harder to rebuild than a supply chain.
When the Bath and Body Works apology hit the wires, it was also a signal to investors. It was a way of saying, "We have control of the situation."
Lessons in Brand Safety for 2026
If you’re running a business today, you have to be your own harshest critic. The "Snowed In" incident serves as a case study for why companies need diverse focus groups before a product ever hits a pallet. You need people who see the world through different lenses.
Actually, it's kinda simple. If you have a room full of people who all think the same, you’re going to have blind spots. Big ones.
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What to do if your brand messes up
Look, mistakes happen. Even with the best intentions, things slip through. The way Bath and Body Works handled this gives us a bit of a roadmap for crisis management:
- Acknowledge it immediately. Don't "wait for more data." If people are hurt, they're hurt.
- Take physical action. Removing the product is more powerful than any tweet or press release.
- Don't make excuses. Nobody cares if it was a "design mistake" or a "technical glitch." They care that it happened.
- Audit the process. Tell the public how you'll make sure it doesn't happen again.
Moving Forward From the Controversy
Bath and Body Works is still a juggernaut. People still want their mahogany teakwood and their foaming hand soaps. The brand has survived because they didn't dig their heels in. They didn't try to "well, actually" their customers.
Is the apology enough to erase the image from people's minds? Maybe not for everyone. But it was a necessary step in a long process of maintaining a massive retail footprint in a socially conscious era. The company continues to lean into its DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives, likely with a much stricter review process for their seasonal art.
If you're a collector of their candles, you probably noticed that the Winter Candy Apple scent returned in different, much safer packaging. The scent remains a bestseller. The drama, for the most part, has faded into the background of internet history, remembered mostly as a "what were they thinking?" moment in marketing classes.
Actionable Insights for Consumers and Brands
For the average shopper, this is a reminder that your voice has power. Social media feedback can change a multi-billion dollar company's inventory in less than 24 hours. For business owners, the takeaway is even sharper. Invest in "red team" reviews. Specifically, ask people to look for ways a product could be misinterpreted before you spend millions on a launch.
- Check your designs against a database of known symbols of hate or controversy.
- Empower your employees to speak up during the creative process without fear of retribution.
- Keep a crisis communication plan on file so you aren't scrambling when the first tweet goes viral.
- Prioritize cultural competency training for your creative teams to recognize "design blindness" early.