Forever 21 Issues an Official Apology for Putting Diet Bars in Clothing Shipments

Starr Bowenbank
·4 min read
Photo credit: George Rose - Getty Images
Photo credit: George Rose - Getty Images

From Cosmopolitan

  • Forever 21 has recently come under fire for putting Atkins diet bars in online orders that contained plus-size clothing.

  • Obviously, a bunch of shoppers were understandably upset, so Forever 21 issued an apology.

So get this: Imagine you’re a super-cute and fashionable woman who is plus-size and you just got paid and want to treat yourself to some brand-new clothes. That’s right, treat yo’ self! Wanting to get the best bang for your buck, you swipe alllll the best deals at Forever 21. The clothing arrives a week later, only for you to find that in your order, the company included a sample of an Atkins diet snack bar. As in…the low-carb diet and weight-loss program. Naturally, your first thought is gonna be, Seriously, WTF?

Believe it or not, but this exact scenario happened to a bunch of women, including plus-size shoppers, this past week who recently ordered clothes from Forever 21’s website—which in 2019, makes absolutely no goddamn sense since the average woman is a size 16! Plus-size shoppers who ordered clothes from the brand and got Atkins were pissed TF off and took to Twitter to express why getting the bars felt rude and to question whether non-plus-size shoppers got them too.

Um, yikes.

To do some damage control, Forever 21 has since issued an apology to the customers who received the diet bars, clarifying that they weren’t sent to just plus-size customers and basically admitting that sending them out in the first place was a bad call.

“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.”

Atkins, on the other hand, took a different approach in their official statement on the matter.

“Today’s Atkins is focused on a lifestyle nutritional approach where everyone can benefit from overall health and well-being,” they 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.”

Maybe next time Forever 21 can send a clothing coupon in its orders? IDK, just a suggestion.

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