Walmart Faces Twitter’s Wrath for Back-to-School Sign Hung Over Rifle Case

Authors Current Events Jordan Michaels

In what appears to be either a thoughtless decision by an employee or a tasteless practical joke, retail giant Walmart is taking heat for a back-to-school sign hung over a glass display of rifles and shotguns.

The sign reads “OWN THE SCHOOL YEAR LIKE A HERO” and is apparently part of Walmart’s back-to-school marketing campaign. While the exact store has yet to be identified, the original photograph, posted by an Indiana resident named Leeanna May, sparked a firestorm from social media users across the country.

“…what are you suggesting?” asked Twitter user ZijZ.

May told the Boston Globe that she “immediately” drew the connection between firearms and school shootings when she saw the sign early Wednesday morning. She called the display “disgusting.”

‘‘We have already lost so many innocent lives to guns,’’ she told the Globe, adding that she was unable to find a manager to remove the sign.

“People don’t seem to honestly care,’’ she said.

While as of this report Walmart’s rifles have yet to escape their glass enclosure to take innocent lives, the company responded quickly to May’s post.

After determining the location of the store, Walmart posted that their store manager had removed the sign from that location.

Walmart spokesperson Charles Crowson also responded to the incident, saying in a statement, ‘‘What’s seen in this photograph would never be acceptable in our stores. We regret this situation and are looking into how it could have happened.”

Crowson also noted that, given the display and the configuration of the store, the photo appears to be legitimate. He declined to comment on whether Walmart officials acknowledged the connection critics were making between guns and mass shootings on school campuses, according to the Globe.

May claims to have seen the display in a Walmart in Evansville, Indiana, but Crowson told the media that her assertion is incorrect. He has yet to offer an explanation that would resolve the disparity between the company’s account and May’s.

This faux-pas follows closely on the heels of another marketing mishap in July. Twitter users discovered a wig cap being sold on Walmart’s website that listed the color as “n—-r brown.” After removing the item from their online store, the company issued a firm apology, saying they were “appalled” at the product description but also noting that it was being sold by a third-party.

The third-party seller claims someone stole their brand name to sell the product.

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  • Robert A Lewis November 1, 2019, 11:01 am

    One possibility is that the sign was photoshopped above the guns booth of the sporting goods area. Just to get a reaction.

  • Brian August 13, 2017, 7:28 pm

    Walmart said Thai it was awful. There was absolutely nothing aweful about it except for the idiot who decided to become so “offended” and complain. My Uncle would hunt rabbit right after school during the 1960’s. To the family, he was a hero for helping to put food on the table at such a young age.
    The sign said “Hero.” It did not say villain.

  • Mike Watkins August 13, 2017, 4:35 pm

    Three possibile reasons for the placement of the sign:

    A clueless thoughtless employee who just didn’t think;

    A clueless thoughtless employee who thought this would be “funny;”

    An employee who actually hates Walmart, his employer.

    But in any of the 3 cases, it does not rise to the level of criminality that the snowflakes want to make it into. Like so many other “big causes” these days.

    • Rusty Shakleford November 17, 2017, 7:17 am

      There’s another possibility: a Walmart employee who is either to illiterate to read the sign or did not have the requisite English proficiency. Judging by my experiences at Walmart it’s a toss-up as to which one it is.

      • Rusty Shakleford November 17, 2017, 7:18 am

        Voice text screwed me on that one. TOO!

        • Shan November 1, 2019, 5:37 pm

          Stop using my alias Dale!!

  • mike August 12, 2017, 10:03 am

    funny that a store named target. does not sell any weapons.
    I;m surprised that walmart still sells rifles. Kmart got out of that business after Columbine.

    • Don Jordan November 3, 2019, 10:38 pm

      Sad that you use the incidental name “Target” to try to make your point (and by the way, Caterpillar doesn’t actually sell caterpillars); but what’s even sadder is that you think it’s a good thing that Target and K-Mart don’t sell firearms and that it makes some sort of difference that they don’t.

  • Keene August 11, 2017, 11:55 pm

    If only that hyper active imagination could be put to productive use!

  • eric jacobson August 11, 2017, 6:03 pm

    I was wrong on my earlier comment on the wallmart location . Sorry!

  • eric jacobson August 11, 2017, 4:00 pm

    That wallmart is down the street from me here in Grand Forks ND. Personally I probably walked by that sighn a few times never noticed it. The other wallmart on 32 nd ave had a killing of a employee by a deranged idiot about 3 yrs ago so I think the last thing anyone would intend is to encourage something stupid like your thinking lady. We now can carry without a cw permit not that i have, except at home. Even for this little town theres some crime for sure.

  • Dr. Strangelove August 11, 2017, 3:02 pm

    I certainly hope that no special snowflakes suffered irreparable harm. Perhaps they could try a cuddling center to properly heal.

  • Tripwire August 11, 2017, 2:08 pm

    I have one ongoing hope and that’s that global warming is real so it will melt all these snowflakes!

  • Frieda G.. August 11, 2017, 1:55 pm

    Oh. come on..This wasn’t killer..A little mistake..perhaps a tasteless joke..Lighten up a little..Bet you told the teacher when you saw someone chewing gum too..

  • 2War Abn Vet August 11, 2017, 1:24 pm

    When I see leftists screaming about “gun violence”, I consistently see then blaming the gun, but never the individual who is actually committing the violence.

  • Mr. Sparkles August 11, 2017, 10:34 am

    Sounds like Leeanna May, from Indiana needs to get a life. She is correct, the placement of the sign shows the lack of attention that is common in the busy world of retail but a simple comment to the store manager would have been more productive. Oh, but wait, Leeanna would not have gotten her name flying around twitter and the rest of the internet. Hmmmm, I think I see the real motivation here.

  • Ram6 August 11, 2017, 10:19 am

    ‘‘We have already lost so many innocent lives to guns,’’ she told the Globe, adding that she was unable to find a manager to remove the sign.” No we haven’t. We’ve lost innocent lives to demented people who happened to have a gun and used it to kill someone. However the “gun” didn’t kill anyone, the person wielding it did.

    • Gene Kumeisha August 11, 2017, 11:39 am

      My guns have played in the house since 1962. No matter how much I try to get them to go out and shoot someone they completely ignore me. They won’t move or even play in the house. In my opinion it’s not the guns. They do nothing, neither do knives. But, a nut job human could grab one and use it. I can just hear the guns screaming inside their little minds “not me” find someone or something else to use to hurt people. Cars do it all the time and so do deer. They jump in front of you and there isn’t much you can do

  • Adam Jeppson August 11, 2017, 9:32 am

    Go outside and play.

  • Mister Ronald August 11, 2017, 9:13 am

    OMG, I would bet $$$$ that when that sign was put up, They did not even think about it was put up over a rifle rack.
    What is wrong with our American population????
    Queers are fine.
    Transgenders are fine.
    Hating God is fine.
    Obama care is fine if you don’t have to pay for it. ( Not if you work for a living)
    Putting a sign in the center of a store is “NOT FINE” for ignotant idiots.

  • John H Baumgaertner August 11, 2017, 9:12 am

    You really have to be looking for something to be outraged about to fool yourself into believing that’s Wal-Mart policy. It could be an employee told to put the signs everywhere for the thousandth time, and they didn’t think about it because updating signage is boring. Or they thought it’d be funny, though I think it’s too mild to be worthy of “practical joke.” Maybe an anti-gun employee did it to trigger easily manipulated fools. Or a customer moved the signs. It’s not hard to do. But it’s obviously not a Wal-Mart merchandising campaign. I mean, come on.

  • Gunflint01 August 11, 2017, 8:51 am

    OMG !! The Walmart put a sign in the wrong/right location…Give me my pussy hat, I’ve got to protest !!! Really? This is worthless news..We should be concentrating on real news.A woman who is being buried today(8/11) in America
    Murdered( No replace that with Executed in pajamas) by a Muslim Refugee Cop ? Where’s the outrage ? 40-year-old Justine Damond, an Australian bride-to-be. She was a yoga instructor, meditation teacher and personal health and life coach. Her killer, a Muslim Minneapolis police officer, identified as Mohamed Noo in Sanctuary City Minneapolis.. Big Media is trying their best to cover up the story, & why ?? It’s all been swept under the rug to die quietly with Damond…by Politicians….By the Media….By We The People…

  • Jason August 11, 2017, 8:45 am

    Those looking to be offended always will be.

    • Godfrey Daniel August 11, 2017, 11:12 am

      Absolutely.

    • Weldman Jones August 12, 2017, 10:01 pm

      Well said.

  • Mike h August 11, 2017, 8:27 am

    Walmart #3297 08/10/2017 aprox 5:00 pm
    I happened upon a Walmart employee twirling shotguns like cheerleader batons. I presume she was trying to find s/n for inventory.
    I brought it to the attention of the other employee behind the counter and asked if she had cleared the weapon. She asked what did I mean? I asked did she check that it was unloaded? She said they don’t keep them loaded. The other employee with the shotgun pit it in the case and picked up another, did not check it and repeated her routine. I told the clerk that I had been speaking to how I had experienced a loaded gun in a sales case ( shot gun is now pointed 3″ from her face ). She is unfazed, shotgun girl is ignoring me even though she heard me. A third employee behind the counter just laughed.
    Found a manager. Relayed my experience. She says they keep them unloaded and with trigger locks. She will talk to them. Seemed unconcerned.
    Maybe I should try twitter, and they can go ” back to school “.

    • Adam Jeppson August 11, 2017, 9:34 am

      Natural selection?

  • Dave August 11, 2017, 8:13 am

    Back to school always meant dove season was about to start for me.

  • Infidel762x51 August 11, 2017, 7:51 am

    Are we sure the sign was actually on the case. Camera angle can make things appear in the photo to quite different than where they actually are.

  • Edwin Barreto August 11, 2017, 7:04 am

    Yet Target continues to allow men claiming to be transgender walk into girls bathrooms taking photos and have had nationwide complaints. I do not see the media taking a stand on this; but that is how the media operates – double standards!

  • roger August 11, 2017, 5:25 am

    Some High schools in my area have a skeet team that shoots shotguns…. 1 person and the news media were offended. LOL

  • John August 11, 2017, 3:34 am

    This may be wrong,and forgive me because I sometimes have a dark sense of humor but I think its kind of funny. Kinda like putting the same sign in the women’s lingerie section.

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