Forever 21's Powerful Religious Message

Starting a few weeks ago, with this religious artifacts assignment on my mind, I began walking around New York in a different way, constantly searching for a meaningful religious artifact to find, analyze, and post about. After going a few weeks with no luck, having nothing stand out or strike me, I found my religious artifact in a place I least expected: Forever 21.  Having just purchased something from the popular clothing store, I can back to my room, took the article of clothing out of the store’s signature yellow bag, and proceeded to discard the bag in the trash.   Only as I was about to throw the bag away did I see, printed in small black font on the bottom of the bag the words John 3:16.  Though I immediately recognized the phrase as arguably one of the most famous/popular Bible verses, I was completely confused as to why it was printed on the bottom of a Forever 21 bag. But then I thought of this assignment, and I thought of how many religious artifacts are often hidden in plain sight, or are found in places one would never expect, and I began to analyze the meaning and significance of printing the location of this popular Bible verse on the bottom of every single Forever 21 bag.

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Millions of people shop annually at Forever 21, a massive store with hundreds of locations across the country.  People of many different faiths and religious beliefs shop at the store: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Buddhists, and people of various other faiths all shop at this store, and all receive one of these bags, directing them to the above Bible verse.

John 3:16 is printed on each individual bag as a symbol of the company owners’ Christian faith.  However, it is more significant than that; it goes beyond that. By printing John 3:16 on each bag, each bag is turned into an important religious artifact, and in a way, brings deeper significance to the items that go inside that bag. It goes along with the ‘How Things Matter Essay’ in the sense that belief is not the only component to religion, things have significance.  The bag and the items inside the bag take on religious meaning as they are transformed items with evangelical qualities: they are helping to spread the good news of this verse and of Christianity in general.  And they are doing this in plain sight, those in a place that is completely unexpected.

This is an example of how everyday things can be transformed into religious artifacts, or transformed into unconventional ways to spread (in this case Christian) faith. I think that printing this in an unexpected place, a shopping bag, demonstrates new and advanced ways of spreading religion. We no longer spread religion only by word of mouth, or by priests and evangelists; we can use unconventional ways to do so today, and that is an amazing thing.  After doing some more research, I found that the store owners who decided upon printing this verse on the bag, are not only Christians, but they are born-again Christians.  Reading this, I thought of how they must have been compelled, by some aspect in their life, to convert back to Christianity.  I then thought that maybe by printing this on every bag, they want to not only spread the good news of this verse, but also guide someone else in the direction of Christian rebirth.  Whether it is a Forever 21 shopper who sees the small print as they are throwing the bag away and curiously looks up the verse, the person walking about their day who finds a discarded Forever 21 bag on the side of the street, or even an employee who is inquisitive about the verse, having this on the bottom of each bag demonstrates the owners faith while also spreading the message to others.

Why this verse?  Even if the goal of the owners was to spread Christianity to their customers while demonstrating their own faith, why would they chose this verse? Not only does the thing itself matter, the bag with the location of the verse printed on it, but the words of the verse matter too.  I believe they chose this verse because it has been referred to as “the gospel in a nutshell.” It encompasses the complete message of Christianity in one short sentence: that God gave his only son so we could live.  I personally think that is a message strong enough to, if not convert the curious customer, inquisitive person who finds the bag on the street, or interested employee, at least make them think about religion, faith, and the message of the gospel in a new way.  I can atest to this, as I was definitely moved by the powerful message when I looked it up after seeing it on the bag. Also by not printing the entirety of the verse itself; by only printing the location, it strikes the curiosity in people to do some more research. It allows people to actually think about the message as they are reading it because they are curious.

Some see the bottom of the bag and already know that particular Bible verse, these people can be reaffirmed in their faith.  Some see the bag and have no idea what it means, they are most likely going to be curious enough to look it up, and maybe it will have a powerful effect on them. Some will see it and not care, they’ll be completely unchanged. But enough people will be positively affected by the small printing of John 3:16 on the bottom of every Forever 21 bag, to make it a significant, yet unconventional religious artifact.

A plastic shopping bag, an extremely common artifact, transformed into a powerful religious relic with just one simple phrase: John 3:16. It is something that thousands of shoppers receive daily and carry with them, some knowing the bag’s religious significance and some not. These bags reside in people’s homes nationwide, garbage cans everywhere, and are littered on streets and roads all around. Though anywhere the bag resides, it maintains its religious significance. No matter where it is, the plastic yellow bag remains a representation of the complete and total essence of Christianity. Whether customers, passersby, or employees choose to discover the significance of this seemingly useless piece of plastic is up to them.  

So as I left Forever 21 having just made my purchase and began to walk home I, like many others in my same position, left with the every intention of eventually throwing away this seemingly purposeless bag (other than being a temporary placeholder for my new clothes), not yet realizing its significant religious purpose.