Supermarket in China provokes outrage by ‘fat-shaming’ customers, with large sizes dubbed ‘rotten to the core’

Chinese shops have taken a recent interest in promoting thin body types

Credit: ALEX PLAVEVSKI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

A supermarket in China has provoked outrage by ‘fat-shaming’ customers, with the sizes on women’s clothes ranging from ‘thin’ at the bottom to ‘rotten to the core’ at the top. 

RT-Mart, which runs a few hundred supermarkets in the country, apologised after a photograph of its sizing-scale was posted on the Sina Weibo social network.   

While ‘thin’ is the smallest size, the scale calls medium ‘beautiful’, large ‘rotten’ and extra-extra-large ‘rotten to the core.’

A hashtag calling for the Taiawanese chain to apologise received 320 million views and 130,000 comments on Weibo, as fury at the insult to customers’ body shapes drove wide discussion of China’s rigid beauty standards.  

According to the Jing Daily newspaper, several shops have geared themselves to exploit rising interest in being ultra-thin, with one, Brandy Melville, only offering clothes in size small.

Followers of the brand suggested women should ideally weigh 61kg at 180 cm and 33 kg at 150 cm, in a viral chart. 

On Weibo, many said they would never shop at RT-Mart again.   

"It’s not just about selling anxiety about age or body shape. Those who wrote words such as ‘rotten’ have rotten thoughts,” one user wrote.

“Tall people also have to wear a larger size, how come they are ‘rotten’? I’m not tall but I’m not thin either, and I can only wear S or M size. The promotion team are such idiots,” another said.

Some saw the sign as an attempt at humour gone awry, with the words corresponding to the sizes in Mandarin. 

In a statement on Weibo, the company said the “improperly worded” sign only appeared at one location and had already been removed. RT-Mart also promised to strengthen its management oversight of the chain.