An item that slipped through the cracks and showed up on Walmart's Marketplace has been removed after it caused a firestorm of controversy, Entrepreneur reports.
A pair of men's hiking boots with a "KKK" logo written on the tongue appeared on the site were pulled after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) alerted the retail giant.
"We thank Walmart for dropping an online listing for oddly/poorly named 'KKK' boots after we brought this to their attention," said a CAIR in a statement last week.
It's not known what the significance of the "KKK" logo is, or if the boots, labeled as "Harsuny Men's Tactical Military Hiking Ankle Boot Outdoor Trekking Shoes," are part of a racist agenda. As Entrepreneur points out, there's no information available about the manufacturer.
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"This item was listed by an outside third-party seller and removed because the item is inconsistent with our values and violates Walmart's prohibited product policy," a spokesperson for Walmart said.
"We have a process in place designed to prevent third-party sellers from offering inappropriate items on our platform," the spokesperson said. "Still, at times, inappropriate items make their way onto our platform."
"We are reviewing how this happened and will apply what we learn to further improve our rules and processes to prevent the sale of inappropriate merchandise," Walmart said.