Asos apologises after being accused of ‘laughing’ at plus-size bodies with ballerina fat suit game
Asos has issued an apology after being accused of “laughing” at plus-size bodies by selling a ballerina fat suit game.
The retailer was called out by London-based fashion blogger Danielle Vanier, who tweeted screenshots of the game, which was created by company Typo UK.
The pictures showed a model posing in the ballerina-inspired fat suit, and the box for “Ballerina Charades”, with the caption: “The perfect ice breaker and party game filled with laughter!”
“Erm, @ASOS – What is this please? Why would you stock something that is clearly marketed towards laughing at a body like mine?” Ms Vanier wrote.
The blogger’s tweet garnered more than 650 likes and nearly 150 retweets, with several people voicing their agreement with her stance on the matter.
Erm, @ASOS – What is this please? Why would you stock something that is clearly marketed towards laughing at a body that looks like mine? pic.twitter.com/FUdGG4Nj20
— Daniyule 🎄 (@VanierDanielle)
“Excuse me?! WTF! I can only assume the point of this game is to laugh at ‘bigger’ people attempting to do ballet moves?! Who approves this s***!!” one person tweeted.
“No not Asos as well. Why isn’t there one place we can go without feeling fear of being fatshamed?!” another remarked.
Asos has since apologised over the matter, stating that the game has been removed from sale.
Thank you for making us aware of this. It was never our intention to cause offence, we’ve decided to remove the product from our site. As a responsible fashion retailer we’re aware of the importance of promoting positive body image, so we appreciate your feedback.
— ASOS Here to Help (@ASOS_HeretoHelp)
“That you for making us aware of this,” the retailer tweet in response to Ms Vanier.
“It was never our intention to cause offence, we’ve decided to remove the product from our site. As a responsible fashion retailer we’re aware of the importance of promoting positive body image, so we appreciate the feedback.”
Typo UK shared a partial response to the controversy on Twitter, in a tweet that appears to have been cut off at the end.
We’re sorry to hear that you have felt offended by our inflatable charades games and hope to assure you this was never our intention. This game includes 4 inflatable character suits including a blueberry, sloth, sumo and unicorn ballerina.
These fictional char...— TypoUK (@TypoUk)
“We’re sorry to hear that you have felt offended by our inflatable charades games and hope to assure you this was never our intention,” the game’s producer stated in the tweet.
According to a recent poll, almost half of adults say they have been body-shamed.
In the survey of 2,000 adults, conducted by WW (formerly Weight Watchers), 56 per cent of the respondents said that someone had made an unpleasant comment about their appearance in the past year.
The Independent has contacted Typo UK for comment.
