US fashion retailer Forever 21 was slammed after sending free diet bars with online orders of clothing.
Customers complain about social media that the retailer was “fat-shaming” women after they received Atkin bars with plus-sized orders.
Daniella Garcia, who often shops at the store, received her online order this week with two dresses, two skirts, and a cami, all from Forever 21’s plus-size section.
“I opened the bag and took the clothes out. Everything was fine. And then when I was trying things on, at the bottom there was a card and there was an Atkins bar in a little bag,” she told BuzzFeed News.
“It was very insulting, and honestly I like shopping at Forever 21, but I don’t feel comfortable buying clothes from a company that thinks I shouldn’t be the size that I am.”
She took to Twitter to find out if anyone else had gotten one, and it turned out she wasn’t alone. Others also joined her and said, it seems like the company was body-shaming its customers.
“It’s upsetting, and I feel like a lot of people are disappointed in them as a fashion outlet that they rely on,” said Garcia.
“They should acknowledge that what they did was wrong.”
Many tweets came from those people who ordered plus-size clothes, in a statement Forever 21 apologized and said the promo went to all customers.
“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,” the company told BuzzFeed News.
“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.”