Chinese supermarket apologises after labelling women who wear larger sizes ‘rotten’ and ‘terrible’

Retailer apologises for ‘inappropriate’ sign

The supermarket chain has more than 400 stores in China (Wikimedia/ 玄史生)

A Chinese retail giant has been forced to apologise after it was revealed that signs in one of their stores described larger women’s clothing sizes as “rotten” and “terrible”.

Pictures of the disparaging signs went viral on Chinese social media, after a user shared an image of a size chart inside the RT-Mart store, which described small to medium sizes as “slim” and “beautiful”, while larger sizes were labelled “rotten” and “horrible”.

The sign included different heights and weights associated with each clothing size.

The customer shared the image on Weibo, where it racked up more than four million views, saying: “I was shocked when I saw this size chart at a RT-Mart today. Am I completely rotten?”

Following the online backlash, the supermarket chain, which has outlets across the country, issued an apology, claiming the offensive sign was an isolated incident and had only been found in one of their shops.

In a statement, RT-Mart said it “deeply regrets causing discomfort to the public due to inappropriate words used in some of its promotional materials" and promised to immediately remove the poster.

Some promised to boycott the chain, which has over 400 stores and more than 100,000 employees in China, amid feelings that the incident spoke to wider issued of sexism within Chinese society.

Meanwhile, China Women's News, which is run by the Communist Party-affiliated All China Women's Federation, described the chart as "detestable" in a post on its official Weibo account. 

"Don't lose respect to grab attention. Advertising and marketing should reflect the corporate values and cultural image. A responsible company should not conduct marketing this way. Learn the lesson!" the group said.

The incident follows backlash against an online trend earlier this year which saw Chinese social media users post photos of their wrists next to tape measures with the hashtag #4cmWristChallenge. The fad was met by a wave of people instead posting images of their middle fingers.