Bath And Body Works’ reaction reveals how intent can miss the mark

The last thing Bath and Body Works needed was controversy, but that’s exactly what it got after allegations began surfacing online that the label on the brand’s candles resembled Klu Klux Klan insignia . This situation is an essential reminder of a profound but often ignored truth: intention and interpretation are not analogous.

Home fragrance and personal care retailer Bath and Body Works released a new holiday-themed candle called “Snowed In” in preparation for the winter season. However, what was supposed to be a close-up image of a snowflake featured on the product looked more like the white hoods of the KKK to many social media users. Unsurprisingly, the similarity sparked outrage in public discourse, given the troubling nature of the white supremacist group that has terrorized blacks for more than a century in this country. The retailer apologized and is now taking steps to remove the product from shelves.

Despite the retailer’s quick action, one can’t help but wonder how this kind of misstep continues to happen. Just a week ago, there were complaints about the Heinz Ketchup campaign’s resemblance to the minstrel’s blackface, for which the brand issued an apology. Before that, there was backlash over an Apple ad that featured playful items and creative tools like musical instruments and a camera that was dramatically crushed by a hydraulic press to reveal its content now lives inside the new iPad Pro .

There are blueprints full of examples where the intent of marketing executions fails miserably and falls out of line with audience interpretations. But this is not so much a question of intention as a question of interpretation. Political pollster Frank Luntz put it simply: “It’s not what you say, it’s what people feel.” Rather, it is not what you intend to communicate but what people interpret.

The act of interpretation is a complex phenomenon. The world presents itself with an endless stream of information reaching our senses, which we try to make sense of in order to participate. We hear sounds and wonder, “What’s going on? Should I be afraid or can this be ignored?” We smell and see the world around us and decide what it is and what it means, and as a result we navigate the world accordingly.

However, this cognitive process is not neutral. Instead, it is colored and influenced by the cultural frameworks that help us make sense of the gigabytes of data we encounter every day. That’s why when some see a black man eating a messy burger that leaves a ketchup residue reminiscent of a Joker smile, they see Halloween-themed iconography, while others may see a token reference to the Blackface minstrel. And in the case of Bath and Body Works, while some saw a snowflake, others saw white hoods. And this is the challenge because the truth is that both interpretations are correct, despite the seller’s intention.

When we communicate, we are not just transmitting information; We are engaging in a delicate dance of signaling and interpretation, and a misunderstanding of meaning can easily lead to a misstep on the dance floor. As marketers, we often focus on crafting the perfect message. We agonize over word choice, tone and delivery. But here’s the problem: no matter how carefully we construct our message, we don’t control how it’s received. The audience, not the speaker, is the ultimate arbiter of meaning. This is why the same words can be interpreted differently by different people or even by the same person in different contexts.

Take a simple sentence like “that’s interesting”. These two words can be taken as genuine curiosity, sarcasm, or dismissal, depending on how it’s said and who’s hearing it. Regardless of the intent of the communicator, what matters most is how it is interpreted. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, meaning is in the mind of the performer. Understanding this principle has profound implications for how marketers approach communication, as a campaign that works well in one cultural context may fail or even offend in another.

The takeaway here is not to become paralyzed by fear of misinterpretation, but to approach communication with humility and openness. We must recognize that meaning is co-created between the sender and receiver of a message. It is a collaborative process that requires constant effort and adjustment. By shifting our focus from “what we say” to “what people hear,” we open ourselves up to more effective, empathetic, and impactful communication.

Whether in marketing, leadership, or personal relationships, this principle can guide us toward more meaningful and successful interactions. Remember, at the end of the day, it’s not about your intent but the impact of your words on others. So the next time you’re crafting a message, take a moment to consider not only what you’re saying, but how it might be translated by people operating with a different meaning-making system than yours. This is why diversity is so incredibly critical to business today: because you can’t see what you can’t see.

Do you know what I mean?