Walmart has expressed an apology after an tackled joke from the company’s Twitter account kindled outrage online.
The tweet, which was updated from the company’s 1 million follower account on Thursday, arose to make fun of the late “The Fast and the Furious” star Paul Walker, who expired in a car crash in 2013.
“Hey, Paul Walker. Click it, or ticket,” Walmart draft in a now-deleted tweet,as per the screenshots gleaned by TMZ.
The company was apparently responding to another user, who had tweeted about “racing” to a neighbouring Walmart to asset a new flavor of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls. The comment was ostensibly intended as a joke, but was instantly blamed as heartless and irrelevant.
Some Walmart social media intern has no idea what happened to Paul Walker and they're about to be in trouble lol pic.twitter.com/JElJgtALG9
— Sam Wertz (@thesheabridge) January 16, 2020
“Paul Walker joke a very bad fault,” one person tweeted. “I am pretty clear Walmart was established on better morals then that.”
“Whoever was on Walmart’s social media apparently did not inquire his team for charge before he said that Paul Walker line. Cuz someone in that room had to have known,” another draft.
Paul Walker joke a very bad mistake 🤮🤮🥶🥶🖕I am pretty sure walmart was founded on better morals then that.
— Jared (@JaredIllingwor1) January 16, 2020
Meanwhile, others saw the expound as a painless joking, noting that Walmart was likely implying to Walker’s iconic aspect as a street-racing, high-speed driver in the “Fast and Furious” franchise. Some barbed out that the same sentence which was used in an episode of the Comedy Central show “Workaholics,” which was recorded before Walker’s death.
There were many social media users who said the joke was in poor aftertaste disregarding though.
Walmart expressed an confession shortly after erasing the tweet on Thursday,permitting to the “poor judgment” behind the statement.
“We confess to Paul Walker’s family, friends and fans. The tweet was placed in poor judgment and has been evacuated,” the company said in a comment.