By Kristin Tillotson

Target has drawn sharp criticism from national media and across the blogosphere for a Photoshop fail that has gone viral. In an online ad for junior swimwear, a photo of an already-thin juvenile model wearing a bikini has been carved and sliced to create an extremely unnatural -looking “thigh gap” and skeletal arms.

“Thigh gap” is a space between the legs at the top of the thighs that only exists on very thin people, and it has become a concern among eating-disorder experts because trying to achieve it has become a fad among some teen girls. After websites including the Huffington Post, Jezebel and and Buzzfeed cried foul, Target removed the image from its website and apologized, calling the bad Photoshop job an “unfortunate error.”

The attempt to trim flesh was so obviously crude that some bloggers speculate that whoever did it was being subversive in protest of this common fashion-industry practice.

“If it weren’t part of an ongoing attempt to mould unrealistic bodies in fashion marketing, it would almost be funny,” wrote the Ethical Adman.