Forever 21 Apologizes After Sending Atkins Diet Bars to Customers

Shoppers slammed the clothing company after they received the unsolicited items with their online orders

By Elyse Dupre Jul 24, 2019 5:46 PMTags
Forever 21Robert Marquardt/Getty Images

Forever 21 has issued an apology after getting slammed for sending Atkins diet bars to customers.

Several shoppers called out the retailer on Twitter after receiving the unsolicited items along with their online orders.

"My mom ordered some clothes from @Forever21's plus-size collection and they sent [an] Atkins diet bar along with the stuff she ordered," one social media user wrote on Friday

"Bought a swimsuit online from forever 21 and they sent me an Atkins bar along with it," added another on Monday. "Lmaoo. Thank [you] for reminding me that I don't have a beach-ready bod."

Some Twitter users also questioned whether the brand sent the bars to only customers who placed plus-sized orders.

"I went from a size 24 to 18, still a plus-size girl, so I ordered jeans from @Forever21," tweeted another customer. "Opened the package, when I looked inside I see this Atkins bar. What are you trying to tell me Forever 21. I'm FAT, LOSE WEIGHT? Do you give these to NON-PLUS SIZE WOMEN as well?"

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After receiving all the backlash, the clothing company apologized for the move and noted that the bars were "free test products" that the organization had included in "all online orders, across all sizes and categories."

"From time to time, Forever 21 surprises our customers with free test products from third parties in their e-commerce orders," the company stated. "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."

Still, many accused the company of "fat-shaming."

"So @Forever21 adding diet bars to their packaging?! Talk about fat-shaming!" wrote one commenter. "You don't have to be a certain size to matter! Long time body issues! THIS is not right! Disturbs me to no end! #LoveYourself."

This wasn't the first time the company had faced backlash. In December, the company was criticized for dressing a white model in a Black Panther sweater that read "Wakanda Forever." Forever 21 claimed it celebrated "all superheroes with many different models of various ethnicities" and apologized "if the photo in question was offensive in any way."