‘Little Fat Black Shirt’: Bengaluru Man’s Subko Receipt Goes Viral, Coffee Brand Apologises for Body-Shaming Remark
A Bengaluru man has called out Subko after a cafe receipt allegedly described him as ‘little fat black shirt’ instead of using his name. The incident at Subko The Craftery in Koramangala went viral on Reddit, prompting the coffee brand to apologise and call the remark ‘cruel’ while announcing disciplinary action.
A Bengaluru man has gone viral after alleging that popular coffee brand Subko printed a body-shaming description on his cafe receipt instead of his name. The incident, which reportedly took place at Subko The Craftery in Koramangala, sparked outrage on social media and prompted the company to issue a public apology, admitting that the employee's actions were "cruel."
The man shared his experience on Reddit with the title, "Subko didn't use my name. They used my body to describe me," along with photos of the receipt and the cafe. Under the customer details section, the receipt allegedly identified him as "Little fat black shirt" instead of using his name.
"I went to Subko The Craftery, ordered my food, paid my bill, and later looked at the receipt. Under Customer Detail, instead of my name, I found: ‘Little fat black shirt.’ Yes. That was apparently enough to identify me."
He added, "Not my name. Not ‘the gentleman at table 12.’ Not even a simple order number. What makes this worse is that someone had to consciously type that into their system. Someone looked at a customer and reduced him to ‘fat’ because apparently basic dignity wasn’t part of the service." ‘Shiv Ji Baithe Hain Kya?’: Viral Video Shows Woman Arguing With Devotees Chanting ‘Har Har Mahadev’ at Jain Site on Parasnath Hills.
Reddit Post Triggers Outrage Online
The Bengaluru resident argued that body-shaming should not be brushed aside because the customer was a man.
"If this were a woman and the receipt described her body instead of using her name, I doubt anyone would call it a harmless joke. Body-shaming isn’t funny just because the person on the receiving end is a man. Subko, your staff can identify customers without humiliating them. Do better."
The Reddit post quickly gained traction, with many users calling the incident unacceptable and urging the customer to leave a review.
Subko Coffee Staff Calls Bengaluru Customer ‘Little Fat Black Shirt’ on Bill
Subko didn’t use my nameby
One user wrote, "This is completely unacceptable! Please write a Google review so that the manager becomes aware of this and, hopefully, someone learns a lesson from it." ‘Humko Indian Bolo’: Arunachal Pradesh Girl’s Viral Video After Being Called ‘Chinese’ Wins Hearts Online.
Another commented, "Omg this is horrible! Sorry you had to go through this."
A third added, "This is totally not acceptable," while another wrote, "Body-shaming is never okay."
Subko Issues Public Apology
Following the backlash, Subko addressed the controversy through an official Instagram statement, saying it chose to respond because accountability mattered more than avoiding criticism.
Cafe Apologises
View this post on Instagram
"Today, we're not addressing this because it's gone viral. It hasn't, yet. We know that publishing this could give it more attention than it currently has. But we're posting this because it genuinely bothered us. Taught us how far we have to go. And accountability is more important to us than sheltering ourselves from judgement when our team member was unequivocally in the wrong."
The company confirmed that a guest at its Koramangala outlet had been "described by their body type on a printed bill instead of by their name" and acknowledged that the employee knowingly entered the description.
"Fat shaming is wrong. Every form. Every time. No exceptions. There's no clever way to say this. It was cruel, and it happened under our roof."
Subko said it had tried to contact the customer personally, taken "the strongest disciplinary action possible" against the employee and revised its process for recording customer details at the counter.
"To the guest who experienced this: we're sorry. Not for how it looked. For what it was."
Why The Subko Receipt Is Going Viral
The incident has sparked a broader conversation about respectful customer service and body-shaming, with many social media users praising the customer for speaking up and urging businesses to treat customers with dignity regardless of appearance.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 22, 2026 03:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
