Benefit UK has made a public apology after causing widespread offence by taking part in a ‘fat-shaming’ Twitter hashtag.
The cosmetics brand joined in with the #MakeAMovieAFatty hashtag, which went viral on 6 July. It tweeted a number of suggestions playing off original movie names including ‘MassiveMike’, ‘Fat and Furious’ and ’13 going on 30 stone’.
As soon as the post went public, Benefit was confronted with a swarm of angry Twitter users, who said it should not have taken part in the hashtag, which many deemed offensive.
Soon, a new hashtag was circulating among those upset by the tweet, calling to #boycottBenefit.
However, others were more sympathetic towards the brand.
Benefit UK quickly responded to the outcry by deleting the tweet in question and posting a number of apologies. It then issued a series of apologies:
Benefit US only recently signed plus-size model Tess Holliday to act as a new face of the brand. She made her position known by tweeting: "I do work for the U.S. Team & what happened is definitely not their brand. (& would never be said here) #sad".