Target’s Halloween costume controversy has revived memories of cultural missteps involving major global brands, including Starbucks, American Eagle, Bud Light, Balenciaga, Gucci, H&M, Pepsi, Dove and Zara.
| Photo Credit:
Brendan McDermid
Backlash over a Halloween costume sold by Target spilled into the retailer’s shares on Tuesday, drawing fresh attention to a string of similar controversies that have plagued global brands over cultural missteps.Here are some examples:Its “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume,” led some consumers to say it resembled a racist caricature.Critics said it evoked Blackface and minstrel shows, prompting backlash on social media. The retailer apologized and pulled the product from stores.StarbucksA marketing campaign in early 2026 appeared to reference the brutal military crackdown on the student-led Gwangju Uprising of 1980.The coffee chain’s South Korean unit suffered what the company described as a “very significant” decline in sales, prompting the dismissal of the head of Starbucks Korea.American EagleSydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ ad campaign in 2025 drew backlash on social media over perceived racial undertones tied to genetic traits, though the company later called it a success, saying it had helped expand its customer base.TargetThe retailer’s 2023 ‘Pride Collection’ prompted customer backlash, leading the retailer to remove some LGBTQ-themed merchandise from stores, with the company saying the move was intended to protect employee safety.Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Bud LightSocial media promotion with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in 2023 triggered a conservative backlash.The backlash toppled Bud Light from its long-held perch as America’s best-selling beer, handing the crown to Constellation Brands’ Modelo Especial.BalenciagaTwo separate advertising campaigns in 2022 triggered a backlash that prompted apologies from the French fashion house’s creative director and chief executive officer.GucciA black balaclava-style “Blackface” sweater with a mouth cut out and trimmed in red was introduced in early 2019.Critics said the design evoked blackface imagery, prompting the company to withdraw the product and apologise.H&MAn advertisement in 2018 featured a black child modelling a sweatshirt with the slogan “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle”.The advertisement was criticised as racist, drawing condemnation from Canadian pop star The Weeknd and basketball star LeBron James. The fashion group apologised and removed the product from all marketing materials.PepsiA commercial from 2017 featuring model Kendall Jenner shows the celebrity in a photo shoot when she sees protesters marching.Removing her wig and makeup, Jenner joins the crowd and hands a baseball cap-wearing police officer a can of Pepsi, prompting him to smile while marchers cheer and hug.The ad sparked outrage from critics who said it trivialised U.S. rights protests and civil unrest. The company scrapped the spot within 24 hours and issued a public apology.Unilever’s DoveA 2017 advertisement for Dove body wash showed a black woman removing her top to reveal a white woman.The incident quickly spiraled into a public-relations crisis. Dove pulled the ad and issued an apology, but the backlash persisted online, with many social-media users urging a boycott of the brand’s products.The brand had previously faced uproar in 2011 over an advertisement which showed three women side by side in front of a before-and-after image of cracked and smooth skin, with the woman positioned on the “before” side being black while the “after” woman was white.ZaraA striped children’s top decorated with a large six-pointed star was introduced in 2014.Outrage erupted over the product’s resemblance to the uniforms worn by Jewish concentration camp inmates in Nazi Germany. The company removed the item and issued an apology.Pepsi’s Mountain DewAn online advertisement in 2013 for the beverage, developed by African-American hip-hop artist Tyler, the Creator, featured a battered white woman on crutches trying to pick out her assailant from a police lineup featuring five African-American men and a goat.Published on August 26, 2026
