Should retailers be held responsible for the items they sell?
They certainly have been with a few wildly controversial products.
But one, in particular, has the internet baffled this week.
Walmart is selling a shirt with a hidden message.
And it’s landed the brand in hot water.
However, the internet is divided on the topic.
“Hmmm, I think the person who realized this has a “potty” mind to see it. Everyone I showed it too, didn’t see it,” wrote one.
“People have too much time on their hands and questionable minds. The shirt shouldn’t have been pulled. It wasn’t designed to read downward based on just those letters. It says more about the people that think with that language than it does the designer,” added another.
Keep scrolling to see for yourself!
There’s one in every town because they offer up so much.
They carry even more stuff, even if people aren’t strolling their aisles trying to shop there.
But occasionally, Walmart hits an issue.
Like a product that people find offensive.
Which begs a question.
Should they be held responsible for the stuff they carry, should it be offensive or sold by bad people?
Do they deserve the blame?
Walmart has their share of detractors, but there’s a lot to manage.
In fact, there are a few major examples that took social media by storm.
Wait no longer. Feast your eyes on these tasteless items on the following page.
Walmart has come under fire for selling some super inappropriate T-shirts on their website.
With captions about s*x and dr*gs.
You could also call them “vulgar” phrases.
When notified of these items, Walmart said, “This obviously has no business being on our site.”
“It wasn’t sold by Walmart directly, but by third party sellers on our marketplace.”
“It’s in clear violation of our policy.”
“We apologize to anyone who was offended by the item and we’re removing it immediately.”
But this wasn’t the only time Walmart has been under fire.
There was the wildly offensive mug incident, too.
Teresa Holiday, herself a mother to a child with Down syndrome, told FOX40 that “it might be a stupid mug to some people.
The spokesperson pointed out that 24 million products live in their online marketplace, and the automated vetting procedure clearly failed.
But the bigger issue is that this cup, sold from JM Holdings LLC, even exists at all.
This week, though, there’s been a brand new Walmart controversy.
As the brand is selling a shirt that people are finding both hilarious and offensive.
“Personally, I love the message because it doesn’t beat around the bush,” joked one.
“They should have removed them from the shelves, and retagged them with higher prices, and put them right back!!
I’m 10 x’s more likely to buy one now that someone pointed that out!” laughed another.
A third agreed: “Wow, people have too much time on their hands!
Now where can I get one?”
Many others don’t think the shirt’s design is an issue at all …
“Whether it was an intentional design decision or not, I am sure more people saw it as more innocent than the swear word people have extracted from it,” one opined.
“People obviously have too much time on their hands if they stare at a shirt with a clearly good message and turn it into something profane. And shame on you Walmart for bending into it!!!!” another agreed.
But, if you take a closer look …
The first letters of each word inadvertently spell the word “c**t.”
“This was not intentional, and the T-shirt has been removed,” a spokesperson told Newsweek.
You can still purchase the shirt on Amazon.
Did you spot the rude message?