Lingerie store La Perla takes down controversial mannequin

The intimate apparel store La Perla had window shoppers in New York wondering if they were marketing a swimsuit ... or an eating disorder.

The bony mannequin, with 'protruding' ribs, put the lingerie store in hot water after someone posted a picture of it to social media.

The photo spread on twitter, where users called it "scary skinny" ... "unacceptable" ... and "irresponsible and harmful" for promoting an unhealthy body image.

According to Yahoo.com, "the Alliance for Eating Disorder Awareness tweeted that the mannequin was "terrible!" -- and even some people in the fashion industry who are used to seeing wafer-thin figures wrote that the mannequin went too far."

After the social media firestorm, La Perla apologized and has since removed the mannequin indefinitely.

Businesses have crossed the line while marketing their apparel several times before.

Photoshop edits are widely criticized for altering model's bodies.

You probably remember Target's big fail when they attempted to increase the size of the swimsuit model's thigh gap -- instead deleting a significant portion of one arm.

The company called it an unfortunate error on its part and apologized.