Dive Brief:

• Apparel retailer Lands’ End this week stumbled with its new “Legends” effort, a series of interviews with iconic figures to be featured in its catalogs. Many customers found its first feature subject, feminist civil rights figure Gloria Steinem, overly controversial.

• The interview was featured in the company’s spring catalog, one of the first with some of the new styles introduced under CEO Federica Marchionni, who interviewed Steinem for the piece.

• A pro-life group brought attention to the interview and encouraged consumers to boycott the company. Lands’ End removed all references to Steinem from its website and apologized, saying in a statement: “We understand that some of our customers were offended by the inclusion of an interview in a recent catalog with Gloria Steinem on her quest for women's equality. We thought it was a good idea and we heard from our customers that, for different reasons, it wasn't. For that, we sincerely apologize.”

• UPDATE: The New York Times reports that Lands' End has received further backlash for pulling the interview, seeing it as a snub to women's rights, sparking debate on its Facebook page. A spokeswoman for the retailer declined to talk about the future of the interview series to the Times. 

Dive Insight:

Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith once said politics is “the art of choosing between the disastrous and the unpalatable.” If this is true, it seems wise for any retail business to tread carefully into political discourse, especially when feelings run hot.

Indeed, most Americans would likely agree with Galbraith. "Business and Politics: Do they mix?,” a 2014 study by policy and communications firm Global Strategy Group, found that support for businesses taking political actions and stances has grown, but most Americans believe that mixing business and political activity is a balancing act. 80% contend that corporations should take action on important issues in society, and 79% say that it’s appropriate to advocate on an issue pertinent to their industry, but “companies should tread carefully on controversial issues,” according to the report.

“Even though a majority of respondents believe that companies should weigh in on issues, even if controversial, taking a position on a hot issue must always be treated with caution,” the report says. “First, controversial issues have the potential to catch the public attention… Second, companies taking a stance on a controversial issue must be prepared for pushback.”

Abortion is one of the hot-button issues best left alone by companies interested in appealing to a wide swath of the populace, according to Global Strategy Group. While Steinem, who’s recently published a memoir, has a wide-ranging set of accomplishments in feminism that many people would agree with, her pro-choice stance is controversial for some.

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel notes that Lands’ End does significant business selling school uniforms, and that this controversy could therefore have a long-term negative effect; two Catholic schools have already said they’d source their uniforms elsewhere, according to the paper.

But while the protestors are organized and vocal, those who support feminism or are pro-choice may not take kindly to the extreme reaction, either. Lands’ End, in hindsight, could have chosen a more middle-of-the-road figure for its new content (a good idea for its catalog, by the way), at least for its debut. The next icon featured could go far in salvaging the idea. And if the protestors take things too far after the company responded and apologized quickly, the apparel retailer could actually gain some sympathy from a more silent majority.