We Made A Mistake
Yesterday we made a mistake on our Twitter page and we want to apologize to our customers and to anyone who was offended by our Tweet.
We didn’t do our research, we reacted quickly, and we made a mistake. We are sorry.
The Tweet posted about Definatalie’s t-shirt design was a knee-jerk reaction and a misinterpretation. Our Twitter specialist, Heather, is a plus-size woman and her intention was to defend other plus-size women. She did not explore the rest of Definatalie’s website, and missed the intention of the slogan on the t-shirt, which is a positive message, and precisely the type of message Lane Bryant endorses. So you know, we reached out yesterday to personally apologize to Definatalie.
The beauty of social media is that companies can hear the voices of their customers loud, clear, and immediately. When we are on the mark, it’s all good. When we miss the mark, we deserve to hear about it. We have read your posts on all of our social media spaces, and we thank you for holding us to a high standard.
We all make mistakes, and we promise we will do better in the future.
I will look forward to your comments below.
Jay Dunn
Lane Bryant
Vice President, Marketing
Member Comments
Most Recent Comments
ecosassy
Hello there Jay, Thank you for this apology--as one customer of yours, I do appreciate it. Heather's tweet was inappropriate. I think I might echo the feelings of a lot of the folks who Heather offended when I say that I don't expect you, as a large retailer, to be any kind of radical fat-acceptance vehicle. But I certainly don't want my views, as a happy and stylish fat woman, to be belittled. I think your main lesson is one of how to engage with things that might be controversial with your customer base. For example, with Natalie's shirt (which I LOVE), I don't think anyone would have expected you to stick out your neck and say, "Hey! Look at this cute, thought-provoking, in-your-face shirt! Isn't it great?" because that surely would have offended the customers who don't (yet) find the word "fat" acceptable. But, go the other way as Heather did, and you end up with the demonstrated result. What would have been really, really cool (and would be really exciting if you did it for future items like this) is if Heather would have offered the link to the shirt, WITHOUT HER PERSONAL FEELINGS ABOUT IT (because her feelings on LB's Twitter account = LB's feelings), and tweeted: "Here's a really interesting piece of clothing. What are your reactions to it?" and allowed the ensuing discussion to grow naturally. So, there's my advice: instead of offering your opinions, engage with your customers' opinions, and maybe learn something yourself along the way. While I would love, love, love to see LB engage a bit more with fatness, I understand that that's probably not in your business plan.
Replyimpdwife
Wow. Wow. I am just dumbfounded. There is a lot of hatred and self loathing out there. Jay, as someone who has had a beauty/fashion/fitness website for more than 10 years, take my advise and don't say anything more. My site was around long before Twitter or blogging or anything else and I have seen some crazy stuff too. At one point we had the largest website of our kind. I would love to talk with you about this because I have been in your shoes more than once!
ReplyDataman
Nice to see Management step up. It shows good management.
ReplyJayceeJ
I agree. Especially since I don't see why they are apologizing. I think the message goes either way. Corporations are often evil but not always.
peppermintpatti
Nice to see that lane bryant apologized and I hope people realize that they cant make everybody happy.
ReplySubstantia Jones
While this represents a somewhat unenlightened POV, your apology is appreciated, and does indeed explain how something like this can happen. And thank Jah, too, 'cause I wasn't looking forward to doing without my beloved Cacique balconettes and plunge bras. Now I can go back to whining about the H-cups coming in fewer and fewer colors. Ah... superficial woes. Just in time for the weekend. Substantia Jones www.adipositivity.com
ReplyWilloKeays
After looking at the t-shirt in question - I have to say that I am offended by it and don't see the issue in Lane Bryant defending their guests. I would NEVER draw on this sort of social stereotype against myself. It's like a Polish person calling themselves a dumb Polak. It's when we as Plus-Sized women give in to the stereotypes that we grant permission to others to do the same. I say Definatalie owes an apology to US! Jay - I think Heather is doing a fabulous job for the company as a whole. I wish I lived in Ohio so that I could become a part of your incredible Marketing team.
ReplyMsPlaced
I am not brazen enough to wear a shirt that calls attention so bluntly to my fat, but I admire women who do. "Fat" is not a bad word. It's just a physical characteristic, and I think that its blatant use on the shirt is a political statement. Natalie does not owe anyone an apology for making it. And LB has no right picking on a small, independant artist, so good on them for apologizing.
madamradams
... except "fat" is not a pejorative term. It is a descriptor of a physical state and that physical state is no better or worse than any other. It is specifically not despairing in that this shirt was created by, and for, women who like their fat bodies and happily identify as being fat. It is akin to a Polish person wearing a shirt with a Polish flag.
BigLiberty
But fat arses are fat, aren't they? I think the problem is that the word 'fat' is pejorative in our current social climate. Brave individuals like definatalie are trying to take back that pejorative term and make it neutral, or at the least calling attention to the kind of negative reaction many people have when simply viewing fat people.