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Bath & Body Works apologizes for candles that look like KKK meeting | US News
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Bath & Body Works apologizes for candles that look like KKK meeting | US News

Members of the Ku Klux Klan light torches. Now some say Bath & Body Works also provided candles for them to light.

The retail chain recently released a candle labeled “Snowed In,” which critics said resembled the hoods and robes worn by the white supremacist group.

After an outcry on social media, the company stated that the designers had no intention of replicating the KKK outfit and removed the item from its website and retail stores.

“At Bath & Body Works, we are committed to listening to our teams and customers and fixing any mistakes we make – even those as unintentional as this one,” the company said in an emailed statement to NBC News and other media. “We apologize to anyone we offended, are working quickly to have this article removed, and are currently evaluating our process moving forward.”

This isn't the first time the brand has come under fire from consumers for poor decisions on new products.

To celebrate Black History Month in 2022, the company launched a line of Kente fabric designs. According to Baylor University, people in Ghana began wearing such clothing during ceremonial events and special occasions.

The company worked with organizations like the National Urban League, a civil rights group, on the 2022 campaign, but some still accused the group of cultural appropriation.

A Bath & Body Works spokesperson then released a statement explaining that the company is “committed to improving our culture through our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and part of that work has been to identify cultural milestones and moments to celebrate – including Black History Month.” that the group would donate $500,000 to support the nonprofits' work.

Following the release of the new candle, one person shared an image of the product on an unrelated Reddit thread dedicated to the company – which somehow has more than 100,000 members – and wrote: “I know it's one of those paper snowflakes, but I can” “I’m not the only one who sees ‘it’, am I…RIGHT??”

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This generated 275 comments. On Instagram, an influencer and self-proclaimed “candle collector,” @scentsgalore, also shared a product image and criticized Bath & Body Works. However, some emergency services tried to put out the fire.

“As a true POC, as a black woman, this is a reach,” one person wrote. “Nowadays people are so soft and offended by everything. It looks like a snowflake cutout for school. Stop the fake outrage.”

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