You ever have those moments where you feel like you're failing at life and then you see someone at the top of their game just utterly face-planting with an easily avoidable unforced error and you think, "eh, maybe I'm not doing so bad after all"?
This is one of those stories.
It seems Walmart—the biggest retailer on the face of the Earth by a wide margin—might have a little issue in the ol' Quality Control department after a very NSFW t-shirt accidentally made it all the way through the design, manufacturing and distribution processes without anyone noticing.
Oops.
\u201cI need this shirt before Walmart realizes what they have done.\nFind the hidden word. \ud83d\ude0f\ud83d\ude05\u201d— \u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 (@\u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455) 1680536954
The green-hued shirt was meant to carry a "green" message about saving the earth from pollution and climate change.
The message on the shirt urges humanity to "REcycle, REuse, REnew, REthink" amid our global environmental crises. And that's great advice!
But the makers of the shirt designed it so that there was one big "RE" and the words "cycle, use, new, think" all together in a block, such that their first letter spelled out... well, you can probably figure it out for yourself, but it's very, very naughty indeed.
At least in the United States.
It's a pretty common insult in other parts of the English speaking world.
@whosurdaddienow/Twitter
The retailer was forced to pull the shirts from all of its stores.
It issued a statement along with the removal, saying the NSFW content "was not intentional, and the t-shirt has been removed."
The t-shirts were created by Walmart's in-house clothing brand George, which originated in ASDA stores in the UK and is still sold there as well after Walmart bought the company in 1999. But it seems this particular George garment only ever went to market in Canada.
Which is kind of disappointing, really.
It would've been fun to run out to the nearest Walmart and grab one for posterity before they yanked it, as the tweeter above planned to do "before Walmart realizes what they've done." Oh well.
Naturally, Twitter had a field day with Walmart's NSFW shirt.
\u201c@whosurdaddienow But you can only wear this shirt on Tuesday \ud83d\ude0f\ud83d\ude0f\ud83d\ude0f\u201d— \u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 (@\u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455) 1680536954
\u201c@whosurdaddienow How do I get one\u201d— \u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 (@\u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455) 1680536954
\u201c@whosurdaddienow What's the over/under that whoever designed that shirt knew exactly what they were doing?\u201d— \u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 (@\u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455) 1680536954
\u201c@whosurdaddienow I saw an article about this and now I need one.\u201d— \u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 (@\u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455) 1680536954
\u201c@whosurdaddienow Oh. Oh dear.\u201d— \u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 (@\u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455) 1680536954
\u201c@whosurdaddienow Yeah. That's what you get when you cycle and use new think.\u201d— \u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 (@\u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455) 1680536954
\u201c@whosurdaddienow Oh. Oh dear.\u201d— \u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 (@\u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455) 1680536954
\u201c@whosurdaddienow Noooooooo!!! I saw this post in an article about Walmart removing them. I want one!!\u201d— \u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 (@\u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455) 1680536954
In the meantime, some clever guy or gal is selling a version of the shirt on Amazon.
\u201c@CalvinHoang8 Yuuusssss!!\u201d— \u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 (@\u0192\u2113\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455 \u0432\u0454\u0192\u03c3\u044f\u0454 \u0442\u03b1\u0455\u043a\u0455) 1680536954
So if a shirt with an offensive acronym is on your list, you know where to go.
(Not Walmart, it's not Walmart.)