Target mixes up definitions of ‘plus size’ and ‘maternity’

Online shoppers noticed that the retail chain used a picture of a pregnant model to show off one of its plus-size items. Meanwhile, Facebook users thought a model in a Cosmo photo was well below plus-size.

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Target, fresh off the news of its massive credit card breach, has earned some unwanted attention for a wholly different reason, this time based on how it represents plus-size women on its website. In a photo noticed by a tipster who passed it on to Jezebel, the retail chain appeared to get the terms “plus size” and “maternity” mixed up.

The model for a black-and-cream striped maxi dress for plus-size women is clearly pregnant.

“Oh Target! Where plus-size women are nothing more than pregnant manatees, I guess,” Jezebel writer Rebecca Rose wrote.

A commenter added, “Plus sized, pregnant… totally the same thing. Oh right, they’re not the same thing at ALL Target.”

Some commenters said the photo may have simply been a mistake.

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