Forever 21 is taking heat after it angered customers with an arguably tone-deaf free giveaway campaign.
Online customers from across the U.S. took to Twitter to say they felt body-shamed when their orders of plus-sized swimsuits and clothing arrived in the mail with free snack bars from the famous diet brand Atkins.
Several customers shared and photos of their opened packages with Atkins鈥 lemon bars inside. One angry Twitter user, who described herself as a size 18, 鈥渨hat are you trying to tell me Forever 21, I鈥檓 FAT, LOSE WEIGHT?鈥
Another person, who ordered a plus-size swimsuit, that Forever 21鈥檚 gesture showed how the company were 鈥渏erks,鈥 adding 鈥渁n Adkins diet bar in my order is NOT COOL.鈥
But the free Atkins bars seem to have been sent to customers who ordered clothing in a range of sizes. One user 鈥淚 just bought a bunch of (extra small and small) clothes and got one too. I don't think it's anything personal.鈥
Other people online echoed customers鈥 outrage, including magazine editor Samantha Puc who that Forever 21鈥檚 gesture was inappropriate and sent a 鈥渨ildly dangerous message to ALL of its customers.鈥
Puc, who runs 鈥淔atventure Mag鈥 an online publication which says it focuses on 鈥渁ctive lifestyles beyond the boundaries of weight-loss culture,鈥 said the gesture could 鈥渢rigger people of all sizes who have (eating disorders).
Advertisements for the lemon bar, which is a part of Atkins鈥 snack collection, is described as a way to 鈥渟tick with your low carb diet.鈥 The two main slogans on Atkins鈥 website read 鈥渓ose weight鈥 and 鈥渓ive low carb.鈥
The Atkins diet and its weight-loss plan peaked in popularity around 2003.
Forever 21 says move was 'oversight'
CTVNews.ca reached out to Forever 21 for comment. In a statement provided to several news media outlets, the company admitted the gesture was a mistake.
鈥淭his 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,鈥 it said.
The company explained that 鈥渇rom time to time, Forever 21 surprises our customers with free test products from third parties in their e-commerce orders.鈥
Forever 21 stressed it wasn't trying to body shame or send a message to people ordering plus-size clothing as the free Atkins bars were 鈥渋ncluded in all online orders, across all sizes and categories for a limited time.鈥
The clothing giant said the bars have since been removed. But it鈥檚 unclear if this was because of the backlash or because the campaign had run its course.
