The Thing About Meaning

The last thing Bath and Body Works needed was a controversy, but that's exactly what it got after allegations began to surface online that the brand's candle label resembled markings of the Klu Klux Klan. This situation is an essential reminder of a profound but often overlooked truth: intent and interpretation are not analogous.

The personal care and home fragrance retailer Bath and Body Works released a new holiday-themed candle called "Snowed In" in preparation for the winter season. However, what was supposed to be a closeup image of a snowflake featured on the product looked more like the white hoods of the KKK for many social media users. To no surprise, the similarity sparked outrage in the public discourse, considering the troubling nature of the white supremacist group that terrorized Black people for over a century in this country. The retailer issued an apology and is now taking steps to remove the product from shelves.

Despite the swift action of the retailer, one can't help but wonder how this sort of misstep continues to happen. Just a week ago, there were allegations about Heinz Ketchup's campaign's likeness of minstrel blackface. Before that, there was backlash over an Apple ad that featured playful items and creative tools like musical instruments and a camera being dramatically crushed by a hydraulic press to reveal that its contents now all live inside the new iPad Pro.

There are decks full of examples where the intent of marketing executions woefully misses the mark and finds themselves out of step with the interpretations of the public. But this isn't a matter of intent as much as it is a matter of interpretation. The political pollster Frank Luntz phrased it simply, "It's not what you say; it's what people hear." Rather, it's not what you intend to communicate but what people interpret.

The act of interpretation is a complex phenomenon. The world presents itself with an endless stream of information that hits our senses, which we attempt to make sense of in order to engage with it. We hear sounds and wonder, "What's going on? Should I be afraid, or can this be ignored?" We smell and see the world around us and decide what it is and what it means—and, as a result, we navigate the world accordingly.

However, this cognitive process is not neutral. Instead, it is colored and influenced by the cultural frames that help us make meaning of the gigabytes of data we encounter every day. That's why when some see a Black man eating a messy burger that leaves a ketchup residue reminiscent of a Joker smile, they see a Halloween-themed iconography, while others might see a symbolic reference to minstrel Blackface. And in the case of Bath and Body Works, while some saw a snowflake, others saw white hoods. And that's the challenge because the truth is that both interpretations are correct, despite the marketer's intent.

When we communicate, we're not just passing along information; we're engaging in a delicate dance of signaling and interpretation, and a misunderstanding of meaning can easily cause a misstep on the dancefloor. As marketers, we often focus on crafting the perfect message. We agonize over word choice, tone, and delivery. But here's the catch: no matter how carefully we construct our message, we don't control how it's received. The audience, not the speaker, is the ultimate arbiter of meaning. This is why the same words can be interpreted differently by different people or even by the same person in different contexts.

Take a simple phrase like "that's interesting." These two words can be taken as genuine curiosity, sarcasm, or dismissal, depending on how it's said and who's hearing it. Regardless of the communicator's intent, what matters most is how it's interpreted. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, meaning is in the mind of the interpreter. Understanding this principle has profound implications for how marketers approach communication because a campaign that works well in one cultural context might fall flat or even offend in another.

The takeaway here is not to become paralyzed by the fear of misinterpretation but rather to approach communication with humility and openness. We must recognize that meaning is co-created between the sender and receiver of a message. It's a collaborative process that requires ongoing effort and adjustment. By shifting our focus from "what we say" to "what people hear," we open ourselves up to more effective, empathetic, and impactful communication.

Whether in marketing, leadership, or personal relationships, this principle can guide us toward more meaningful and successful interactions. Remember, at the end of the day, it's not about your intention but about your words' impact on others. So next time, when you're crafting a message, take a moment to consider not just what you're saying but how it might be translated by people who operate by a different meaning-making system than you do. This is why diversity is so unbelievably critical for contemporary business: because you can't see what you don't see.

You know what I mean?