LITERAL TRIGGER WARNING
Walmart has come under fire for hanging a “back-to-school” banner near a display case of guns for sale. Because clearly Walmart was hoping back-to-school consumers might wander past the display and assume they need to buy a gun for their child to take to school to kill and massacre a bunch of children and teachers. I mean, what else would they think?
Oh @Walmart 🤦🏼♂️ pic.twitter.com/SLdROB4KYF
— Papa Ish (@ismailkidd) August 9, 2017
Here’s another confused consumer:
…what are you suggesting? @Walmart pic.twitter.com/Ng0LbtnAnf
— ZijZ The Fish (@ItsZijZ) August 9, 2017
Now, a reasonable person would just assume the sign was mistakenly placed there. It’s also possible the sign was moved by someone who was not an employee. If I had seen that very same sign over a display of spray paint, fishing rods or even condoms, I would imagine it was a mistake (and I would laugh if it was near the condoms.) I might even tell an associate, but since this has to do with GUNS, the situation becomes an opportunity for virtue signalling, corporate shaming and social media heroism.
The photo appeared to create confusion within the company, whose explanation for the store’s location was at odds with a woman claiming to have seen and photographed the display.
Charles Crowson, a spokesman for Walmart, told The Washington Post that the chain’s operations team is working to identify the store in question, which involves looking for what the company is calling “patient zero” — the first photo of the display.
Crowson said the display and the configuration of the store suggest the photo is legitimate. It was not clear whether the sign was placed there by an employee or a shopper.
“What’s seen in this photograph would never be acceptable in our stores,” he said in a statement. “We regret this situation and are looking into how it could have happened.” He declined to comment on the connection critics were making between guns and mass shootings on school campuses.
The Walmart in question was in Evansville, Indiana. The victim, or rather the woman who was visually offended by the sign said it was “disgusting.”
“We have already lost so many innocent lives to guns,” she said, adding that she drew an immediate connection between firearms and school shootings. May said she alerted store employees but could not find a manager.
“People don’t seem to honestly care,” she said.
The real problem here is with this woman if her “immediate” reaction was that Walmart doesn’t care about children and teachers being slaughtered while at school. Why not give the benefit of the doubt and assume it was a mistake? But miss an opportunity to showcase some righteous indignation? NO WAY.
Walmart apologized and the sign was taken down by 9am that same day.
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