I love free samples. Most people do. Yesterday both our children went to a Food Show. They didn’t buy any lunch because they didn’t need to. Every stall they went to was busy serving up delicious samples for them to eat and drink. Free cheese, free cooked meats, free olives, free salami, free drinks… It was foodie heaven. Our son brought home honey-roasted crickets (yes you read that right) and our daughter brought home the most massive olives I have ever seen in my life.
When I used to order my groceries online I would regularly find that Countdown had included a free sample with my order. If the free sample was shampoo or soap it never occurred to me to be outraged because they were insinuating that I was dirty and smelled bad.
When the free sample was a cleaning product I didn’t immediately think that it was a slur against my standard of housekeeping (which to be fair is well below average due to my crippling laziness syndrome).
If the free sample was sugar-free this or diet that, I didn’t react with shock because they thought that I needed to lose weight. Let’s face it even on a good day I could do with losing a few kilos (actually more than a few) but I keep shoving food into my mouth while hammering away at a keyboard all day so the buck stops with me.
So what would I do if I ordered some clothes online to fit my expanded waistline and they arrived with a free sample that was an Atkins bar? Apparently, the correct way to respond is to rage at the horror of a company giving me free stuff because… fat shaming.
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.
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 stupid company reacted by issuing a public apology when they should have simply stuck to this part of their press release.
“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.
Newshub
Well done snowflakes. Now everyone has to miss out on the free stuff just because you all have a ten kilogram chip on each shoulder. If the sample was free perfume would you complain that the company was saying that you smell bad? You are the only ones fixated on how fat you are.
