Last Monday, Oct. 27, Walmart joined the growing list of retailers that fail to understand the importance of brand awareness and reputation. Last weekend, many plus-sized women looking for Halloween costumes were greeted  with the tab, “Fat Girl Costumes,” on the company’s website.

Twitter immediately erupted with comments.

“Jesus, @Walmart actually has a ‘fat girl costumes’ page. Really, @Walmart? One more reason among hundreds that I’m glad I don’t shop there.” – Sara Ryan @foodstuffsnati

“”Fat Girl Costumes”? Really, @Walmart? Who thought that would be an appropriate title for a public sales page? Come on.” – Kristen Garris @kristengarris

“@Walmart Not sure labeling these as “Fat Girl Costumes” is the best approach. #rude http://www.walmart.com/c/kp/fat-girl-costumes …“ – Kristyn Washburn@ItsWithaY

Walmart has not released a public apology on either Facebook or Twitter. Instead, the company sent a stock apology to many individual customers.

“@MtinaMorgan This should have never been on our site and we apologize. We quickly removed it and made sure to not let it happen again. -Glen” – Walmart @Walmart

Urban Outfitters also struggled with a similar problem recently. Last month, the clothing company sold Kent State sweatshirts that were stained blood-red, hinting at the Kent State shooting in 1970. The company also marketed V-necks with the words ‘Eat Less’ to young teenage girls. Once again, customers of Urban Outfitters were appalled at this decision.

The problem comes down to this: who is in charge in these situations? Both these companies are proof that brands are not taking the necessary precautions to ensure customer satisfaction.

Urban Outfitters needs its employees to ensure that all designs are appropriate, especially if the company markets to teenagers. From the design room to the store displays, there must have been Urban Outfitter’s employees who have seen the design of these apparels. If the company was truly ensuring that each of their clothing designs were morally decent, how did a shirt with the words ‘Depression’ written all over it survive to the store displays?

Likewise, Walmart needs more than one web manager overseeing the content posted. The company, which usually carries sizes up to 4XL, completely offended the plus-size demographic, which is an estimated 67% of the female population. While the cause of the mistake has not been revealed, many believe that it is either the fault of the web manager, a hacker or a third party organization that writes the descriptions. Regardless, as one of the largest retail stores, Walmart needs to have a better system. After all, it only helps their company.

Another ensuing debate concerns the connotation of the word ‘fat’. Many customers have justified Walmart’s actions by saying “it is what it is,” referring to the correlation between the words “plus-sized” and “fat.” Still, if most of Walmart’s customers are offended by the word “fat”, it wasn’t the best decision for Walmart to have the word on their website.

While Walmart might currently be looking for a new web manager (hopefully at least two), they also might want to check out the fact that the majority of models on their “plus-sized costumes” page appear as though they aren’t even plus-sized. The average American body is changing, and the average woman now wears a size 14. Each body type is beautiful, and companies like Walmart need to recognize and respect that. If not, they can continue losing offended customers.