PR Review: Forever 21's Partnership With Diet Bars

Recently, Forever 21 was accused of putting diet bars in plus size online orders. It has come to light that it was not only plus size orders as Forever 21 issued a statement that read, “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.”

Although it’s not as bad that they were included in all orders, and not just plus size orders, it is still a bit of a confusing partnership with these Atkins diet bars. From a PR perspective, I would not have thought to pair food with clothing unless the clothing had something to do with food. For example, I could see this collaboration working if it was a granola bar or a chocolate bar printed clothing collection. Even then, it’s a bit odd. However, this partnership was not a good call for the brand and I am very surprised that they didn’t have a good PR person to warn them otherwise.

In carrying out collaborations with brands, PR professionals need to make sure that they align or are relevant. This particular situation is a prime example of how things can go really wrong when there isn’t a proper assessment of an appropriate partnership.

Visit the Walden PR Blog for more public relations and crisis communications content.

Photo by Sara Kurfeß on Unsplash