Getting free stuff is always exciting. Actually, scratch that. It's usually exciting — when the free thing you're getting doesn't feel like a thinly veiled dig at your weight. But that's exactly what some Forever 21 customers say happened when they opened their packages this week and found Atkins diet bars sent with their clothing.
Many of them flocked to social media to voice their anger, including one woman who tweets under the handle @MissGirlGames.
For her, seeing the diet snack bars inside particularly stung — for a few reasons.
"I went from a size 24 to 18, still a plus size girl, so I ordered jeans from @Forever21," she began. "Opened the package, when I looked inside I see this Atkins bar. What are you trying to Tell me Forever 21, Iâm FAT, LOSE WEIGHT? do you give these to NON-PLUS SIZE WOMEN as well?"
In fact, many women who were sent the Atkins samples couldn't avoid feeling body shamed by the brand.
"Bought a swimsuit online from Forever 21 and they sent me an Atkins bar along with it," tweeted @caileeargudo. "lmaoo thank u for reminding me that i don't have a beach ready bod."
Another Twitter user wasn't so gentle with a response.
"Hey @Forever21, go f-ck yourself!" wrote @Michael11897256. "Body shaming and Fat shaming your customers is a d-ck move and bad for business."
Another woman shared a photo of her mom's order, which also showed items from Forever 21's plus size collection along with the diet bars.
"Sending people diet bars, shakes, teas, etc. with clothes they bought can send a negative message about body image," one woman tweeted in response.
Still, not everyone was offended.
Lots of Twitter users chimed in telling the women to basically lighten up, and not read into it so much.
"Itâs a free sample," tweeted one person. "Get over it."
"It's a classic promotional deal," wrote another. "No harm."
"The bars came in other orders too not just plus sized," one man pointed out, "but how is promoting healthy eating and dieting a negative message about body image? Being ok with eating junk and the impact it has on your body is the negative message."
In response to the backlash, Forever 21 has since issued an apology for sending the bars, claiming it was all an unfortunate oversight.
âFrom time to time, Forever 21 surprises our customers with free test products from third parties in their e-commerce orders,â the company said in a statement to People. âThe freebie items in question were included in all online orders, across all sizes and categories, for a limited time and have since been removed.â
Although the brand is known to include random samples in packages, it's still pretty nuts someone in their marketing department didn't raise a red flag over this one before they were mailed home to customers. But either way, the brand insists it won't happen again.
âThis was an oversight on our part," the statement continued, "and we sincerely apologize for any offense this may have caused to our customers, as this was not our intention in any way."
