A US clothing store is being criticised for the questionable free gift of an Atkins diet bar included in online orders.
Forever 21 is being accused of "fat-shaming" for the move, especially after the bar was included in many orders of plus-size clothing.
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Jesse Marisaelao posted on Twitter that her mother had bought several items of clothing, which arrived with a lemon Atkins bar on top, complete with calorie count and fat content.
"Sending people diet bars, shakes, teas, etc with clothes they bought can send a negative message about body image," Marisaelao added.
The tweet has since racked up over 10,000 likes and 2,000 shares, with many outraged at Forever 21.
One customer who recently lost a significant amount of weight was shocked at the freebie.
"I went from a size 24 to 18, still a plus size girl," she explained on Twitter.
"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?"
Body positive blogger Mermaid Queen Jude shared a post on the topic calling Forever 21 "fatphobic".
"As someone recovering from an ED, this would've set me back so far... F**k you Forever 21," she added.
The clothing retailer released a statement to People, apologising to customers for any offence caused.
"From time to time, Forever 21 surprises our customers with free test products from third parties in their e-commerce orders," the company explained. "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."
It's not the first time a clothing store has been accused of body-shaming. A UK lingerie store was forced to defend itself last year after a hurtful sign at its entrance listing different sizes.
Newshub.
