Writer Alie Ward spotted the plates at Macy’s flagship Herald Square location in New York on Sunday night, and tweeted a picture.
As the “Pourtions” company celebrated their newfound moment in the spotlight on Instagram, Ward took to Twitter with her complaint. “How can I get these plates from Macy’s banned in all 50 states?” she asked. Within hours, Macy’s answered.
“Hi, Alie — we appreciate you sharing this with us and agree that we missed the mark on this product,” the company tweeted. “It will be removed from all STORY at Macy’s locations.” Later, Macy’s delivered an apology via a statement to CNN:
We apologize to our customers for missing the mark on this product. After reviewing the complaint, we quickly removed the plates, which were only in our STORY at Macy’s location in Herald Square.
On Monday, Ward claimed she did not intend for the tweet to grab so much attention. “I just saw it, rolled my eyes, got sad for the people it would impact and used my voice on a public platform,” she said, calling the plates’ humor “a pointless joke with a cheap punchline.”
Pourtions countered by claiming the plates are meant to be “a lighthearded take on the important issue of portion control,” while apologizing if the design was “hurtful to anyone.”
We feel very strongly about the positive, light hearted message conveyed by our glasses & plates. The response today has been overwhelmingly positive, including more interest in Pourtions & sales today than ever before,” President Mary Cassidy wrote in an email.
As the creators of Pourtions, we feel badly if what was meant to be a lighthearted take on the important issue of portion control was hurtful to anyone. Pourtions is intended to support healthy eating and drinking. Everyone who has appreciated Pourtions knows that it can be tough sometimes to be as mindful and moderate in our eating and drinking as we’d like, but that a gentle reminder can make a difference.
For now, the controversy seems to have died as quickly as it was born. Still, Ward has asserted if the stock of plates is simply relocated to a discount retailer like TJ Maxx or Marshalls, “I’m gunna lose it again.”