I am and advertising major and most of my assignments consist of creating advertisements for my portfolio. I had the idea to do an ad for Forever 21 because it is a popular store but I cannot remember ever seeing and advertisement for them. My friend and I were discussing the company and she brought up the fact that she heard that the owners of Forever 21 were quite religious.
I had previously noticed on the bottom of Forever 21 bags John 3:16 is printed but I never thought anything of it. After hearing this, I started doing a little research. On Forever 21's website there is no mentioning of God or bible verses. When I typed in Forever 21 and religion in google.com I found several articles suggesting that owners of Forever 21 are very religious. Their designers go on Christian missions around the world and the company gives a substantial amount of money to orphanages and churches around the world.
I come from a family with a strong religious background and I think that it is commendable that the owners of Forever 21 are religious and they place bible verses on the bottom of shopping bags and donate their time and money diligently to the less fortunate. Most of the articles and postings I read on this topic seemed to disagree with me. Majority of articles I read questioned rather or not they should continue to support forever 21 because they questioned if the money they spent in the store was going to support these religious groups. I agree and think that this is a valid point but not just on the topic of forever 21. As a consumer when you purchase an item you do not know what causes your money is supporting once it has left your hands. I felt this was a great topic and it made me really think about what I may be unknowingly supporting through my purchases. Let me know what you think about this topic.
Image credits: forever21.com
4 comments:
I concur with the fact that this is indeed an interesting topic. It is very rare that corporations, companies and institutions openly display their affiliations with any religious group. Do I think it is a good idea?
Morally, sure...
For Consumerism purposes, not so much.
I'm sure a great deal of consumers may be offended by the John 3:16 located at the bottom of the bag. Some may not want to support any religious organizations/mission trips. And they have that right. Because of this, Forever 21 is loosing or has loosed consumers; not in great numbers, I presume. But I do think it's great that despite potentially offending, they are still proud enough to show love to their God.
Would I feel the same way if this company identified with the Buddhist faith or Mormonism? Yes, because even as an identified Christian, I'm not so super religious to the point that I won't donate to other good religious causes.
To be safer, I think companies should send proceeds to research foundations. MAC, for example donates 100% of Viva Glam purchases to their own AIDS Foundation. I love this idea because everyone has sensitivity to illnesses/diseases. Religions? Not so much.
i'm glad forever 21 does this.
Wow, I never knew Forever 21 was a religious corporation especially a fashion company. I love the store and the clothes and knowing that my money is going to the hands of the needs and not some designers using their name to get rich I will definitely feel less guilty about my purchases. The next time I buy a cute fit when I know I really shouldn't, I can convince myself I'm donating to a good cause, and I will be!
I've noticed this a while ago. I think it's a great thing. They're not forcing anyone to buy the merchandise and they're certainly not banning non Christians from their stores.
Every company, business owner, rich person etc. chooses to do what they want with their profits and many 0of them choose to invest in their religions ( paying for a Tom Cruise movie = funding scientology for example) And for me as long as the money's not going to something that is detrimental to society or illegal then it's fine with me. I'd feel the same way if there was a "star of David" on the bottom of the bag.
it's all capitalism, Kudos to Forever 21!
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