Forever 21 sent out diet bars with online orders and customers are not pleased

Forever 21 might be known for its inexpensive fashion and unique team-ups, but right now, the company is catching some serious flack over diet bars.

When you place an online order, what do you expect to find in the package you receive? If you are a Forever 21 customer, it might not just be the clothes that you ordered.

According to Jezebel, customers of Forever 21 have taken to social media to express their upset over the addition of Atkins diet bars with their orders. While the primary complaint has apparently come from customers who ordered from the plus-size line of clothing, the company itself has said that all online orders were gifted these diet bars as part of a test promotion with a third-party vendor.

Although most of us love a free gift, the problem with this one is the fact that it is quite literally a diet bar. And even if these diet bars went to every single online order customer for a month, that does not take into account how it makes women feel when they see them.

As someone who wears plus-size clothes and struggles with my weight and body image, the last thing I want to see when I get an order from a fashion retailer like Forever 21 is something that reminds me I am not good enough as I am. And this is exactly what many customers on social media are saying.

Here are some of the reactions popping up on Twitter:

Whatever Forever 21 meant to accomplish by including the diet bars, the reality is that for some customers, it can be seen as offensive. It is also dangerous in many cases, especially if someone is already struggling with body-perception issues or an eating disorder. And for a woman who is ordering plus-size clothing to receive these Atkins bars, it can be devastating, as they are trying to look beautiful in their new purchase, and now you are essentially telling them that they need to work on themselves in order to be someone else’s idea of perfect.

Did Forever 21 mean to offend what is likely half of their customer base? The answer is probably not. But based on the feedback on social media, that is exactly what they did. And while I have seen the comments where people point out that every order received these diet bars, and not just the plus-size orders, it doesn’t really matter, because none of the orders should have contained a diet bar.

When we order clothing and other fashion accessories, we want to feel good about ourselves. Our hope is that these pieces make us look and feel good. And getting something like a diet bar is just not going to help make us feel beautiful.

How do you feel about Forever 21 throwing Atkins bars in with its orders? Do you think they made a mistake? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.