As Olivia Rodrigo once said, “It’s brutal out here!” It turns out she wasn’t wrong. Fans of the 18-year-old singer were enraged after receiving their purchased merchandise for Rodrigo’s debut album Sour.
Sour has taken the American music industry by storm. It has trended for weeks in Billboard’s Top 200, occupying the top position three times since its release on May 21, 2021. Notable singles from the album include Drivers License, Good 4 U and Deja Vu.
Rodrigo can be found everywhere, left and right. She celebrated her musical success on Saturday Night Live, the week before her album dropped. She stars in the Disney Plus teen drama High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and she recently did a stint at the White House, joining President Joe Biden and Dr. Anthony Fauci to encourage people to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
While her successes are unlimited, especially for her young age, she appears to have majorly dropped the ball when it came to the oversight of her merchandise. Fans have taken to social media to highlight the poor quality of Rodrigo’s Sour merchandise, including tank tops, tee shirts and shorts.
What’s wrong with Olivia Rodrigo’s Sour merch?
The young pop star shared her new merchandise line on Instagram on May 22, 2021, the day after Sour debuted. She wrote to her followers, “SOUR MERCH IS OUT! AND CDS AND CASSETTES!!!!!” while sharing images of her donning branded bucket hats, oversized sweaters and other 90s inspired looks.
Many fans rushed to her website to pre-order these fashionable looks, paying $60 for a pair of branded sweatpants and so forth. But as the orders began to be fulfilled, these fans were left disappointed — they were either missing their order or were sent items that did not match what was being advertised.
One fan shared to Twitter, “Guess whose Olivia Rodrigo merch finally arrived, only for it to be the wrong item.”
Another wrote, “Okay…I just received my merch from Olivia Rodrigo’s shop and it’s…not good? Like, this was the shirt I thought I was buying and the one I got is bright people and looks like something I would get from summer camp. It says it’s specifically vintage wash but I’m not seeing that.”
Fans demand a response
Comments similar to the ones mentioned above have been circulating the web for the past few days, yet they have remained unresponded to.
On Rodrigo’s Instagram announcement above, the comment section is littered with fans complaining about their orders.
It has escalated to the point where fans are demanding a response from their idol, especially before the situation frames her in a bad light.
One fan wrote, “the amount of people I’ve seen complaining about Olivia Rodrigo’s merch coming in looking completely different from the pics and being bad.. she’s going to get sued omg.”
Another tweeted Rodrigo directly, echoing the same concern. They wrote, “Hey Olivia. Please fix your merch!! This is insane. Every merch item people are receiving has been complete trash. It’s your responsibility to fix the problem! People are spending $$$$ to support you and this continues to occur. @Olivia_Rodrigo.”
At the time of reporting, Olivia Rodrigo has yet to respond to these criticisms.
Sour is available for streaming on all major music platforms.