HBC under fire for selling 'skinny' T-shirt

The Hudson's Bay Company is getting bad reviews on Twitter over a T-shirt that critics say promotes eating disorders. The white T-shirt depicts a mock food nutrition label and reads: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." It was spotted at an HBC store in Toronto.

Storified by CTVNews.ca· Tue, Jun 24 2014 16:35:36

Plz RT: @TheHudsonsBayCo is promoting #eatingdisorder culture. We are #NotBuyingIt http://t.co/rY8kteVcRmKathleen Pye

The motto was made infamous by supermodel Kate Moss in 2009. Ads for a children's T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan were banned in Britain in 2011 after outraged parents complained.



Really, @TheHudsonsBayCo?! This is the message you want to send to your customers? Disappointing... #notbuyingit http://t.co/UH67Zvz8jhSamantha Cambridge

One Twitter user who complained directly to HBC said she received this response:



Update on @TheHudsonsBayCo #tastesbetterthan tee: received sloppy, canned response to my emailed complaint. Excerpt: http://t.co/syBy6u4MiCKristin Foster

After several angry tweets directed at HBC, another user noticed that the T-shirt may no longer be available for purchase online.



Is @TheHudsonsBayCo pulling back? "We're sorry you have reached a product page that is no longer available." http://t.co/jbF96bf6gS #EDDysthymic Dad

The T-shirt's designer, Christopher Lee Sauve, defended the use of the slogan. He wrote on Tumblr that the T-shirt is actually a "protest" against "absurd" statements in the fashion industry.



Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels<p><span>I am being bombarded with hate mail, tweets, Facebook messages from people protesting my design <strong>"Nothing Tastes As Good As Skinny Feels"</strong> selling at The Hudson Bay and Patricia Field. The design was not intended to be pro-anorexia but the opposite. Clearly the nutritional label that is on the t-shirt states that you are not consuming any calories or nutrition by not eating therefor </span><a class="profileLink" href="https://www.facebook.com/katemoss" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=1437354003182442">Kate Moss</a><span> statement from 2009 is ridiculous and therefor the t-shirt is a protest against her actions and the absurd remarks that occur in the fashion industry as all of my work portrays.</span></p>

Sauve got plenty of support from those who accused critics of overreacting and failing to see the T-shirt's "real" message.



Stop being so inflexible, @chrissauve tees are always thoughtful art waves, not random tacky propaganda. Think more! http://t.co/OZiT10NRV0Sally McAlister

@chrissauve Stop overreacting people! It's so not pro-anorexia.NaomiBurtonIsaacs

@chrissauve nothing feels as good as your tees on me! You're brilliant. Not at all hateful. #misunderstood #loveRobyn Roberts

But not everyone was convinced that Sauve is a misunderstood artist.



@SterlingJoy94 @chrissauve @AnnieBee_61 I'm sorry...but how is reprinting a hollow nutrition label & stupid pro-starvation quote "art"?Recovered Anorexic