Goal has apologized for a Halloween clown costume that sparked backlash on social media and says it will no longer sell the item.
“An apology from us: we have conducted an offensive Halloween costume that should never have been in our range. It is no longer for sale,” the company wrote in a message statement about X on Monday.
Business Insider reviewed dozens of social media posts in which people posted screenshots of a Target product called “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume.” The product image showed a black child dressed in a colorful orange and black top, paired with plain black gloves and a large mask with a big smile.
Several social media users on
The product was not listed on Target’s online store at the time of writing.
“As a company, we did this wrong, and we are deeply sorry. We know this is especially hurtful to our Black guests, team members and partners,” Target said in its statement.
The company said it is also investigating how the product ended up in stores and will investigate “what needs to change to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
The Halloween costume controversy comes almost a year after Target rolled back its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Target has previously been criticized for a Halloween product.
In 2009, the retailer DELETED an ‘Illegal Alien’ Halloween costume from his website after complaints from immigrant rights advocates. The costume included an alien mask, an orange jumpsuit with the words “Illegal Alien” and a fake green card.
In 2016, Target pulled a “Lady Granny Costume” after the same outfit was sold under a transphobic name on other retailers’ websites. Goal Fortune said it had received no complaints about the listing, but removed the costume “out of respect for public concerns”.
Halloween costumes have gotten other major retailers into hot water over the years.
Walmart faced backlash in 2015 for selling a children’s Halloween costume modeled after an Israeli soldier’s uniform. It too to behave a latex prosthetic called the “Sheik Fagin Nose”, which was marketed as “perfect for an Arab sheikh”, drawing criticism online.
British retailers Asda and Tesco too DELETED two Halloween costumes in 2017 after complaints that they reinforced harmful stereotypes about mental illness.
