A reader let me know about this TikTok, where @stassiesims discusses the email that she got from David’s Bridal that was an advertisement for Weight Watchers (aka WW) She talks about the fatphobic nature of the email and laments the fact that she can’t return her dress to them since their return policy is seven days after purchase, even though it took them six months to get the dress to her, and to reveal themselves as a company that is willing to harm fat their fat customers for money.
In good news, there is a follow up, which is that David’s Bridal corporate got in contact with her and when they said it was in response to their customers wanting to work on wellness, she pushed back that weight loss (which, she had the receipts to show, is what WW was explicitly selling by name in their ad) has nothing to do with wellness. David’s has agreed to let her return the dress, but not to end this toxic partnership.)
By the way, if this was really about “wellness” then why (according to a number of comments on the original video) did thin David’s thin customers NOT receive this email? Does David’s not want them to be “well?”
I call bullshit.
The fact that you have fat clients who want to buy your wedding clothes does not make it ok to send them unsolicited weight loss propaganda, which can be harmful to their physical and mental health, including and especially when you send the propaganda in the name of physical and mental health.
We will never know how many fat people David’s harmed, how many eating disorders they contributed to, how many customer’s self-esteem was damaged, how many will take another dangerous ride on the weight loss rollercoaster.
We know that, based on their own numbers, Weight Watchers program almost never succeeds in producing significant, long-term weight loss . In fact, the only things they do succeed at producing are weight stigma and a shit ton of profit.
Once a snake oil salesperson, always a snake oil salesperson. Yes, even if Snake Oil, Inc. claims that they are not selling snake oil, they are selling “wellness”. Yes, even if Snake Oil, Inc changes their name to SO, Inc. It’s. Still. Snake Oil. And I still don’t want it all over my wedding dress.
As someone who is currently in the market for a wedding dress, David’s Bridal is off my list unless and until they correct this. I will find a way to get a dress that doesn’t support the diet industry.
If you’d like to tell them how you feel, you can contact them here:
1 (844) 400-3222
customerservice@dbi.com
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