I paid my local Clinique counter a visit yesterday and got chatting to the manager, who told me that she’d had complaints about the brand’s newest range of lipgloss: a chunky crayon called the ‘Chubby Stick’. The complaints had come from customers of no particular shape or size, and we could only surmise that they pre-empted any offence that may be caused to individuals who might take it personally – although quite why anyone would compare themselves to a crayon, I don’t know. I’d always thought the campaign for that product was particularly cute, and it had never occurred to me that it would offend anyone.
I’m the first to jump to the defense of anyone who is being maligned or discriminated against – but in instances like this, surely there would be no issue if someone hadn’t created one. A song lyric comes to mind: “don’t start nothing, it won’t be nothing.” Or, as the indignant counter manager so adorably put it, “I’m chubby! I don’t mind!”
