Forever 21 Apologizes After Shipping Atkins Diet Bars To Plus Size Customers With Their U.S. Online Orders
Let’s be real: as women, we come in all different sizes! I definitely appreciate fashion brands that continue push the culture forward and embrace all sizes as the norm. Forever 21 is now under fire after sending out Atkins bars as a freebi with their U.S. online orders.
I’m obsessed with any fashion line that’s broadened their product line to cater to all the beautiful shapes and sizes that women come in. Rihanna served us life when she released her size inclusive lingerie line, “Savage X Fenty,” and even Forever 21 released a denim line “12x12,” with sizes up to 3X that literally broke the internet. But, customers are coming for the popular teen retailer for sending diet bars with their recent orders.
See The Tweets That Customers Shared After Receiving Lemon Diet Atkins Bars With Their Forever 21 Purchases:
Customers took to Twitter to express their confusion and disgust after receiving the diet bars with their orders. Forever 21 has now put out an official statement with PEOPLE after the social media backlash that states the entire situation was a misunderstanding:
“From time to time, Forever 21 surprises our customers with free test products from third parties in their e-commerce orders. The freebie items in question were included in all online orders, across all sizes and categories, for a limited time and have since been removed… This was an oversight on our part and we sincerely apologize for any offense this may have caused to our customers, as this was not our intention in any way.”
Everyone loves a free gift! But the fact that Forever 21 was a place where many plus sized women feel comfortable shopping means certain freebie items should not even be considered in case they would be triggering to the customer.
If you didn’t know, the Atkins low carb diet rose to fame in the early 2000s and restaurants would even offer menu items at chain restaurants. According to their website, they now offer options to go along with the newer Keto diet. They definitely market themselves as emphasizing a healthy lifestyle, but it’s clear that the optimal results in using their products and utilizing their products is weight loss!
Atkins also released a statement to PEOPLE :
"Today’s Atkins is focused on a lifestyle nutritional approach where everyone can benefit from overall health and wellbeing,” the said. “Our brand evolution is reflected in the current marketing efforts to highlight the health benefits of eating a low carb/low sugar Atkins lifestyle, with a portfolio of nutritious and delicious snacks for everyone. The intention of sampling Atkins products is to share snacks that taste great with optimal nutritional benefit."
Everyone loves a free gift! But, as women, we try our best to feel comfortable in a world that is constantly pushing weight loss upon us. While Forever 21 is a brand that is constantly being praised by plus sized women, alienating their plus sized market will eventually cost them!