What are the chances that some devious Target color-namer intentionally insulted large women?
Well, the place is called — speaking of names — Target. Maybe they sit around thinking: Who can we target today?
This is a new pastime for the paranoid: Look for insults planted in product names. The shopkeepers actually hate you. They're saying it constantly, injuring you repeatedly, just below the level where you notice?. Wake up! Everybody is laughing at you!
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77 comments:
For years I've wondered why any woman would shop in store called "Dress Barn." I wouldn't go into one called "Suit Sty."
Was it Target, or the manufacturer? Either way, stupid, stupid, stupid. Walrus Grey would be as bad, or worse, as more people know what a walrus is.
"What are the chances that some devious Target color-namer intentionally insulted large women?"
100%. And the chances that he is gay? 95%.
I have zero patience for these crybaby losers or the morons who enable them. Target should never have apologized. They don't need the business of the .001% of anyone who would have boycotted over this.
Apparently, we can no longer shame people to attempt to change behavior.
Other than smokers.
I thought manatees were in.
Endangered and all.
Suggestions for Target color-namers:
Silverback.
Polar Bear Beige.
Hippo Heather.
Leopard Seal.
Blue Whale.
Sloth Slate.
I'll bet a real-life manatee would take a smaller size, anyway.
I don't suppose the size 2 petite was "worm gray".
KJE said...
Apparently, we can no longer shame people to attempt to change behavior.
Other than smokers.
I think the better conclusion is that only government can shame people.
I agree that an apology was unnecessary. Just fire the person who made up the name, as a JOKE!!!! HAHAHAHA I'm sure.
That said, who goes around looking at color names, and notices this kind of difference and actually cares about it? My suggestion to them: Get an actual LIFE.
Manatees are "in". The color would be really interesting if it included slashes representing outboard motor scars.
I think the world has enough professional offended victims. Maybe even too many!
Trey
Battleship Gray would have been worse.
I am impressed with the laughing manatee photo, by the way.
Battleship gray was too obvious. And so was elephant and rhinoceros gray.
An argument ensued in the colors dept. over battle axe gray vs. silver, the name rejected.
Toxic industrial pollutant gray and atmosphere fog gray and biochemical waste gray and regurgitated penguin babyfood gray are just four of the new nail polish tones
Apologies Mr D, crossposted there.
Warthog brown?
Manatees prefer black when they have a choice. It's more slimming.
Michelle: "Barry, does this hippopotamus blue pantsuit make my ass look big?"
Barry: "Gulp."
Blogger AllenS said...
Michelle: "Barry, does this hippopotamus blue pantsuit make my ass look big?"
Barry: "Gulp."
4/5/13, 12:12 PM
____________________________________
LOL...thread winner
Shaming won't work. It's a thyroid issue in 100% of the cases. That the woman is stuffing ho-hos down her gullet non-stop is a non-issue.
She should have bought the garment in Portly Pink.
It's a profitable pastime. It forms the business model of many corporations in the human and civil rights industry.
My guess would be that someone came up with the name as an internal joke, never intending it to make it to production, and someone else, unaware of the joke, went ahead and started producing it.
There was a similar ( although much more offensive ) case a few years back, where the NAACP ordered a lifetime achievement award to honor James Earl Jones, and what they received instead was one honoring James Earl Ray.
I reject Target and their insulting, demeaning, and insensitive marketing to Wymen of prodigious proportions.
Everyone knows that size doesn't matter. Except, of course, when it does.
This is a new pastime for the paranoid: Look for insults planted in product names.
See also: pajamas in political ads.
Oh, the huge Manatee!
Really, some people need to grow a thicker skin... Doh!
Sea Cow Slate
I'm not paying attention until they bring Lardache jeans to the market.
I'm naming my new dog, Ample Ass Annie. Any problems w/ that?
AllenS, LOL!
Weren't manatees the inspiration for mermaid legends?
It's a compliment!
You're like a mermaid, dear.
what color is a Slow Loris?
My guess would be that someone came up with the name as an internal joke, never intending it to make it to production, and someone else, unaware of the joke, went ahead and started producing it
Which is why the person -- and their boss (es) -- should be fired. Lack of oversight, and a lack of self-control that leads to bad PR for the MotherShip.
Someone out of the bottom of their heart probably thought that they would remind customers that manatees were endangered, and would be extinct in about 2 weeks, and then... Who knew?
Animal-named color line, huh? Needs "boobie blue".
...and "common loon" for black-with-white-polkadots.
Yet more proof that many women utterly lack a sense of humor.
This would actually probably be a win for sales to men. I can easily see a big guy laughing and being more inclined to buy shirts where the sizes were changed from XL and XXL to "Switch To Bud Lite" and "Hit The Gym, Jack."
Who do I sue for making me shop in the "Husky" section when I was growing up?
Hey, if the dress fits . . .
My guess would be that someone came up with the name as an internal joke, never intending it to make it to production, and someone else, unaware of the joke, went ahead and started producing it.
Seems likely. As MM says, somebody goofed up along the way and should probably be fired. You don't want to provoke this kind of response, as a business.
That manatee picture is awesome, though.
R.A. Crankbait said...
Who do I sue for making me shop in the "Husky" section when I was growing up?
Probably Hostess, but you're too late.
First Lady Lilac.
I guess when it comes to wardrobes for fatties it is possible these days to achieve endless offense, especially from people whose whole lives are devoted to find things they are endlessly offended and shocked by and to communicate to other people their outrage and demand it be stopped.
Butter yellow?
Rich chocolate brown?
Dairy cow black&white mottled?
Stawberries and cream spring dress?
Venus and Serena Williams fashions?
(Oh wait, Venus and Serena DO have a multimillion dollar fashion business!)
Even paranoids have enemies.
Target is one of those enemies. They like the money that fat people spend but they share the disdain that the evil blogger lady feels towards them.
The Nutty Perfessor doesn't think it is a big deal because she really dislikes chubby people. She does post after post documenting that fact.
Of course if you made a shirt and called it "faggot fuchsia" or "pederast purple" or "catamite chartreuse" ....well then it would be a hate crime.
Certain types of people are fair game. It is almost as though they are "Targets".......so to speak.
*googling catamite*....
Years ago, I worked on a classified airplane program. We began to document one attack profile as "John Wayne mode". Yes, it was point-n-shoot at targets of opportunity.
We had to scrub that from the documentation when the program was de-classified.
Oso Negro said...
Manatees are "in". The color would be really interesting if it included slashes representing outboard motor scars.
Better still if the garment were low cut for motorboating.
catamite chartreuse
That's hilarious.
*googling catamite*....
Clearly you didn't read The Crystal Cave multiple times.
So I spent like 10 minutes googling manatee, shark, alligator. And I have discovered that nobody fucks with the manatee. Not sure why. Just a big damn cow.
Anyway, if I ever go to prison, I think I'm going as a manatee. Nobody messes with the fat ass of the sea. Nobody!
Here's a gator saying no way.
Here's a shark on the wrong side of a prison movie
You should look under "hand fisted" when you google catamite.
Or under protected class where it is really important not to mock, belittle or bully because that could get you fired as the head basketball
coach at Rutgers.
Clearly you didn't read The Crystal Cave multiple times.
I don't read much fiction anymore. "ite" is a common suffix associated with minerals such as crystals. "cata" is also a morpheme in the chemical sciences. There appears to be no association with catamite.
At least they didn't call it "Sea Cow Gray."
MadisonMan,
That said, who goes around looking at color names, and notices this kind of difference and actually cares about it? My suggestion to them: Get an actual LIFE.
Indeed. Most actual human beings shopping for clothing look only at stock in their size range. So, unless this was a case of a mother and daughter, say, out to find matching gray dresses, which seems unlikely ... someone is working rather hard to find causes for offense.
"Count Fistula" sounds like a character in something published underground by Olympia Press.
Sure it is no problem. It is not like these woman haven't been mocked all their life. So the best way to sell them a dress is to insult them.
Political correctness goes both ways.
Words have meanings. You should respect the feelings of others right?
At least that is what all my colored friends tell me.
Maybe this world view that you can make fun of fat people is just a chink in their armor.
Oh wait.....
This took place in the Target in the Atlantic Mall across the street from the New Barclays center.
I have shopped there before and let just say this...the shoppers are about 75% or more in the plus sized category.
It makes no sense to do this. Other than as some as said that it was a "joke" gone wrong. It is instructive to see that it made it all the way to the racks without anyone have a problem with it.
The research shows that 33% of morbidly obese women were sexually abused.
Put your big toe in the milk of human kindness occasionally. It helps you accept your own foibles with more grace and understanding.
Trey
Some of my best friends are manatees.
I stand with the gray Manatee.
@Baron: In other words, the blinds leading the blind?
It is instructive to see that it made it all the way to the racks without anyone have a problem with it.
This would never happen with mislabeled cup sizes.
This would never happen with mislabeled cup sizes.
Nobody confuses a Bloomberg dixi with a Hefner Plus.
Today, We are all manatees.
The name of the garment itself, "Women’s Plus-Size Kimono Maxi Dress" seems to be more incendiary. I'd have marketed it in pachyderm puce, but then I'm color blind.
Lol, ever notice that those who whine about other people having "victim mentality" are the biggest whiners of all? "GET A LIFE", as in.. do something else with your time other than judging and shaming anyone who stands up for themselves, only bullies do that. It was a joke, yup, and it went through how many people to get all the way to the store rack? And it was a mean joke. Target screwed up and admitted it, and apologized (that's called taking accountability, unpopular in modern culture, which is why the culture is in decline.) Arrogance is the platform from which all bullies and co-bullies launch themselves from; it's not confidence or strength, it's just being stuck in pre-adolescence. If you can't make jokes without being mean, you've got a lot of growing up to do.
I just didn't believe it was intentional.
If you think I was insulting fat women, you're either too suspicious or you are lying about me for your own reasons.
I did not know manatees were grey.
Ya learn sumpin'new............
But really people need to get a sense of humor.
I just didn't believe it was intentional.
The guy was trying to type 'slate' and it came out 'manatee'.
If you think I was insulting fat women, you're either too suspicious or you are lying about me for your own reasons.
If he genuinely thinks (as I do) that you were insulting fat women, what's he lying about?
Rusty said...
I did not know manatees were grey.
Ya learn sumpin'new............
But really people need to get a sense of humor.
My recollection, from swimming with them in Florida is that most of them are greenish from algae growing all over them.
Lem said...
Today, We are all manatees.
Manatees today, manatees tomorrow, manatees forever!
Thanks for posting a pic of Bitch Tit Mahal. Oh, the huge manatee!!!
Well, you know, if Obama had a fat daughter, she'd look like a grey manatee.
Somebody formerly employed by Target will never work in Marketing again.
Paddy O. beat me to this, but...
If the marketing sub-genius had called it "Mermaid Grey" no one would have noticed and he could have laughed about it with many boyfriends over the next few years.
I just didn't believe it was intentional.
There is no way on God's green earth that it was unintentional, given the same color (and I presume fabric) was given a different name.
Marketing folk obsess over things like color names. Some idiot just got way too cute, and somehow the joke made it out of the cubicle farm.
If they just used the PMS color code, that too would generate multiple complaints.
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