A few days ago, during the current London Fashion Week, plus-size fashion brand Taking Shape launched a PR stunt that consists of a booth that is meant for “skinny bird watching”.
Employees of the brand were also seen in front of the booth, “spying” on slender women with binoculars, and armed with a “field guide” that likens Size 6 women to “rare exotic birds”.
Unfortunately for the team at Taking Shape, this campaign did not go well with its target audience at all—in fact, it received a strong backlash from women of all sizes, who expressed that body-shaming of any kind is bad for the promotion of body confidence, and should not be condoned.
On social media, some plus-sized women started using the hashtag “#fatbirdwatching” to “show Taking Shape the error of their #skinnybirdwatching ways”.
While the company has already issued an apology for their campaign, we think that it may take quite a bit more for people to forget this episode.
What do you think of this failed PR campaign?
Who's with me? Let's use #FatBirdWatching to show @TakingShapeUK the error of their #SkinnyBirdWatching ways. http://ift.tt/1BiR5Pz
— Daisy (@MissInformed11) February 20, 2015
To counter your #SkinnyBirdWatching @TakingShapeUK I'm #FatBirdWatching #allbodiesaregoodbodies #nomorebodyshaming http://ift.tt/1BiR660
— Daisy (@MissInformed11) February 20, 2015
[via Hello Giggles, Styleite]