Several online retailers removed an Anne Frank Halloween costume from their listings Monday, forced to act after a chorus of criticism revealed the girl-sized outfit was available for sale on several websites. The outcry comes months after the costume was originally discovered on, and removed from, Amazon.com.
The Anne Frank costume controversy began in August, when social media users began pointing out the product to Amazon’s Twitter accounts. After the e-tail giant removed the listing for what it then called the “Girls World Evacuee Costume,” the outfit — a combination of a beret, dress, and satchel similar to what Frank wore — started getting recognized by shoppers at other online stores.
Seriously, @funcostumes, you market "WWII #AnneFrank Girls Costume" for #Halloween? https://t.co/v3ZfX9YFOJ Sickening.
— Julie Bestry, CPO® (@ProfOrganizer) September 18, 2017
Over the past 24 hours, as Halloween approached, public pressure increased for companies to remove listings for the product. Screenshots and tweets showed that companies including eBay (which is a marketplace consisting of various independent online sellers) also carried the controversial costume. According to reporting by CBS, Walmart listed it as recently as today. Fortune reached out to Walmart for comment, but the company has not yet replied.
Eventually, a representative for Fun.com addressed the costume controversy, explaining that the company sells costumes for school projects and plays as well as for Halloween. Fun.com, owner of HalloweenCostumes.com, said it had removed the outfit from its websites. “We apologize for any offense it has caused, as that’s never our intention,” said the spokesperson.
And as of this writing, only one online store, The Halloween Spot, still had the costume for sale online. It was listed as “World War II Evacuee Girl Costume.” When reached for comment, a company representative said, “We apologize for anyone offended by the costume and will be pulling these costumes from our stock.”
