A lifestyle image on a lighting company’s website showed a child’s bedroom scene containing two copies of a book with “White Supremacy” on the spine. The cause of the image’s publication was unclear, including whether generative tools were involved. The image appeared to have been live since at least April 11, 2026, and was later pulled shortly after inquiries. The book appears to be a real publication resembling a collection of essays titled “State of White Supremacy: Racism, Governance, and the United States.” Another book in the image also appears real, though its cover was shown backwards. A similar controversy occurred previously when B&Q apologized after the same book appeared in a product image that was not caught by screening.
"An eagle-eyed Verge reader spotted that two copies of a book with “White Supremacy” plastered on the spine were included in a lifestyle image on Govee's website, in a scene that seemingly depicts a child's bedroom."
"We have reached out to Govee for clarification on how this has happened. The image has since been pulled from Govee's website shortly after we sent our inquiry. The image didn't contain any C2PA and SynthID data when we checked, but that doesn't necessarily rule out that it was generated with AI tools."
"The book in question does appear to be a real publication, however. It resembles a collection of essays titled “ State of White Supremacy: Racism, Governance, and the United States.” That's far less nefarious than presumed, but still a wildly unfortunate and questionable cover to include without such context about its content."
"British hardware retailer B&Q issued an apology back in 2023 after the book was featured on its website for a radiator cover listed by a third-party vendor. B&Q said at the time that the product image “was not picked up by our screening process.”"
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