Brittanie 
As you all know I am a frequently shop at Forever 21. In Fact, about 40 percent of my wardrobe comes from Forever 21. I have shopped at Forever 21 for years and it has been the only place that has literally grew up with me. They offer a wide range of items and it has truly become my one stop shop.
The plus size department has been around for years, but it is still somewhat new. I was an employee at Forever 21 at the time and I helped open a new store in our local mall. I remember when our regional manager announced they were just going to be including plus sizes to their shoppers demographic at specific stores. Everyone was super excited about the company being involved in size inclusiveness movement. Plus sizes are now available online and almost every store around the country.
Forever 21 recently got blasted for including Atkins diet bars in plus size orders. @Jessemarisaelao took the time express her frustration with Forever 21 for including these items in her mom’s order. She wrote “Sending people diet bars, shakes, teas, etc. with clothes they bought can send a negative message about body image,” and she is absolutely right. It was reported that these sample diet bars were placed in all online orders, which makes the the situation even worse.
The company has since released a statement apologizing for the entire ordeal.
“From time to time, Forever 21 surprises our customers with free test products from third parties in their e-commerce orders,” a spokesperson told the outlet. “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.”
I love that Forever 21 responded quickly in regards to the situation because it represents the amazing customer service I receive when going into one of their stores. BUT they may want to be more mindful of what they are putting into customers shipments. I won’t be canceling Forever 21 completely after this, but I hope to see changes in what they include in their marketing moving forward.
By Brittanie Sturdivant, Sophomore, Open Campus Parsons School of Design
Instagram: B_Slay_S
