Sometimes when you critique someone or something with sole purpose of taking them out of the public eye, the reverse happens. Instead of taking them out of the general circulation, you inadvertently give them more exposure and audience.
This happened recently after Walmart's website featured a slew of hilarious t-shirts made by Hollywood Thread that offended some uptight groups. One particularly garment (which lists activities that could get the wearer arrested on two counts if they decide to follow it) reads, "I'd Rather Be Snorting Cocaine Off Of A Hookers Ass."
Mashable reached out to Walmart and heard back from Bao Nguyen, who works in media relations for Walmart Global eCommerce and Technology. Nguyen said that Walmart plans to take the shirt down. Yahoo backed the move of Mashable by reposting the article in hopes that it will pressure Walmart more.
"Wow. This obviously has no business being on our site," said Nguyen. "We're removing it ASAP. Thanks for calling it out."
Nguyen further explained that after a seller is approved, Walmart outlines to them its detailed policies of what is and is not allowed to be sold on Walmart’s site. Whenever an approved seller uploads an item, it goes through a filter to make sure no trigger words get flagged.
Nguyen mentioned that Walmart also has a trust and compliance team who look at the site every day for anything that may have snuck past the filter.
He agrees that the shirt in question is in violation of Walmart's policies.
Unfortunately for Mashable and Yahoo, the whole thing backfired.
The shirt and other similar like it from "Hollywood Thread" suddenly saw a surge in demand. Several sites, like Amazon, received a barrage of queries that supply is running out fast. The shirt is also available at Spencer's Gifts and Hottopic.
Even the Yahoo post about the shirt was peppered with requests on how to get hold of the shirt which is being sold for US 19.95.
This happened recently after Walmart's website featured a slew of hilarious t-shirts made by Hollywood Thread that offended some uptight groups. One particularly garment (which lists activities that could get the wearer arrested on two counts if they decide to follow it) reads, "I'd Rather Be Snorting Cocaine Off Of A Hookers Ass."
Mashable reached out to Walmart and heard back from Bao Nguyen, who works in media relations for Walmart Global eCommerce and Technology. Nguyen said that Walmart plans to take the shirt down. Yahoo backed the move of Mashable by reposting the article in hopes that it will pressure Walmart more.
"Wow. This obviously has no business being on our site," said Nguyen. "We're removing it ASAP. Thanks for calling it out."
Nguyen further explained that after a seller is approved, Walmart outlines to them its detailed policies of what is and is not allowed to be sold on Walmart’s site. Whenever an approved seller uploads an item, it goes through a filter to make sure no trigger words get flagged.
Nguyen mentioned that Walmart also has a trust and compliance team who look at the site every day for anything that may have snuck past the filter.
He agrees that the shirt in question is in violation of Walmart's policies.
Unfortunately for Mashable and Yahoo, the whole thing backfired.
The shirt and other similar like it from "Hollywood Thread" suddenly saw a surge in demand. Several sites, like Amazon, received a barrage of queries that supply is running out fast. The shirt is also available at Spencer's Gifts and Hottopic.
Even the Yahoo post about the shirt was peppered with requests on how to get hold of the shirt which is being sold for US 19.95.
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