Walmart Markets 'Fat Girl Costumes'

On 27 October 2014, a popular blog published a post concerning retailer Walmart's unusual marketing for a subset of plus-sized costumes. Instead of the standard "plus-size" or "extended sizes" category, Walmart.com placed their inventory under the header "fat girl costumes."

On the morning of 27 October 2014, Walmart's fat girl costumes page remained live. While the individual costumes bore monikers like "Lava Diva Saloon Girl Women's Plus Size Adult Halloween Costume" and "Southern Belle Adult Plus Halloween Costume," the overall header and URL both described "fat girl costumes."

Jezebel observed that some standard size costumes were also unusually labeled, pointing to what may have been the work of a third-party seller. The description for a "ghost Marie Antoinette" costume (peppered with improper formatting) read:

I bet she's regretting that crack about letting them eat cake by now. The Women's Ghost Marie Antoinette Costume is a quality costume. There aren't very many costumes of the Dauphin of France floating around, and even less where she's a ghost. Spirits that used to be royalty must be the worst. It's one thing to haunt some abandoned, old shack, it's a whole other bag of marbles to haunt a palace. That's gotta bring the property value way down.The Women's Ghost Marie Antoinette Costume comes with a dress, a neck slash, and cobwebs. Bonnet rouge not included.The Women's Ghost Marie Antoinette Costume is a spectral outfit of the last Queen of France. Ghost plus Royalty. A winning combination.

Walmart did not immediately address complaints about its "fat girl costumes" page. By noon EDT on 27 October 2014, the URL in question had been redirected to the retailer's "Women's Plus Size Halloween Costumes" page.

Last updated: 27 October 2014

Walmart Markets 'Fat Girl Costumes'

Walmart.com features 'fat girl costumes' section for Halloween.

David Mikkelson

Published Oct. 27, 2014

By David Mikkelson

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