When a set of Macy’s plates comparing portion sizes to jean sizes hit the Twitter-sphere last week, critics swooped in like vultures to fresh roadkill.
“F*ck these plates. F*ck these plates to hell @Macys,” wrote one commenter.
“Yo @macys this is beyond effed up,” wrote another.
In response to concerns the plates promoted body-shaming, Macy’s said it “missed the mark on this product” and removed the plates from all its stores…
But it was too late to stop the plate-hate
Macy’s responded to the first tweet, which was posted by podcast host Alie Ward, in just a few hours.
But, thanks to Twitter, the controversy already had momentum: The tweet racked up more than 5.7k retweets and 48k likes in the 3 days after it was posted — and started a vitriolic debate about what should and should not go on a plate.
Unlike Macy’s, Pourtions insists its plates don’t hate
The sensational supper-ware — a plate featuring a small circle with the words “skinny jeans” and a larger circle with the words “mom jeans” — is served up by a small company called Pourtions.
The founders of Pourtions, wife and husband duo Mary and Dan Cassidy, were surprised by the controversy… but stood by their product.
“Pourtions is intended to support healthy eating and drinking,” Mary Cassidy told HuffPost. “That was all we ever meant to encourage. We also believe a touch of humor can, for some, be just the right touch.”
But, the incident plated up an extra helping for Pourtions
Pourtions — whose mission is to sell “a conceptual line of tableware that deftly mixes social awareness with a humorous nudge in the right direction” — received hate for the plate.
But, as it turned out, some people also thought the plate was great: Pourtions’ online order volume tripled after the great plate debate.
