Walmart Removes Offensive Shirt from Stores After Curse Word Is Noticed Hidden in Plain Sight
Whoops.
That one-word sentiment above largely appears to be shared by retail titan Walmart after an “Earth Day” shirt turned out to be a little more raunchy than your typical reminder to recycle.
The shirt in question is a green one emblazoned with the four “Re’s” of environmental activism: Recycle, Reuse, Renew and Rethink.
Much to the chagrin of Walmart, it wasn’t so much the message itself on the shirt that was raising eyebrows — it was the way that message was arranged.
A viral tweet, which has amassed 2.5 million views and over 19,000 likes at the time of this writing, started gaining traction after telling viewers to “find the hidden word”:
WARNING: The following image has a “hidden word” that some readers may find offensive
I need this shirt before Walmart realizes what they have done.
Find the hidden word. 😏😅 pic.twitter.com/OtiWsFlk3c— ƒℓαѕкѕ вєƒσяє тαѕкѕ (@whosurdaddienow) April 3, 2023
“I need this shirt before Walmart realizes what they have done,” a Twitter user noted. “Find the hidden word.”
That “hidden word” is the c-word or c***, which is so clearly spelled out when you look at the first letter of each word after “re.”
“Cycle.” “Use.” “New.” “Think.”
Responses to the viral tweet ran the gamut of emotions, from the confused to the downright conspiratorial.
One common joke in the Twitter responses referenced “Tuesday,” as in “C U Next Tuesday,” an acronym that spells out the same offending word.
Jokes and acronyms aside, it’s still a rather vulgar blunder, and one that has forced the massive retailer to immediately pull the activism shirt from its storefronts, according to multiple reports.
Walmart told Newsweek that this error was unintentional — while also noting that the shirt wasn’t even available in America.
“This was not intentional, and the T-shirt has been removed. For context, this item was only available in Canada,” a Walmart representative told the outlet.
Interestingly, a quick search on Amazon reveals that, despite the glaring nature of the wordplay blunder now, these shirts have been in circulation for some time, with the “Recycle, Reuse, Renew, and Rethink” being a popular motto among the Greta Thunberg’s of the world.
While Walmart has swiftly moved to get rid of the questionable shirts, this is hardly the first — and certainly won’t be the last time — that Walmart’s wares have raised some eyebrows.
In December, fiery Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene blasted the retail chain for selling sex toys near children’s toothbrushes — another “mistake” that Walmart swiftly rectified.
But even if the sex toys and c-words don’t get you while shopping there, something else might given some of the zanier and more tragic stories to emerge from Walmart this past year alone.
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