States are like snowflakes: Though some may appear to resemble each other from afar, each has its own unique shape, a basic geographical fact that one company had to learn the hard way.
Twitter user Samantha Ficco tweeted at Wal-Mart last week after discovering that the store was selling a University of Maryland T-shirt featuring an outline of the state of Massachusetts. The shirt included a large white “M” and the word “Terps” (short for Terrapins, the UMD mascot) on a red outline of the New England state.
But Ficco, who was not fooled by the prominent UMD logo and colors, informed the company of the mistake.
Dear @Walmart I want to inform you that you're selling UMD shirts with the state of Massachusetts on them. https://t.co/RjzK4CdOHH— Sam Ficco (@Sam Ficco)1459371022.0
At first, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman named Marie defended the shape’s accuracy:
@Samficco The state of Maryland is shaped to dip down on the right hand side which includes the word "Terps" for the team. -Marie
— Walmart (@Walmart) March 31, 2016
@Samficco On the map, MA and MD are shaped somewhat similarly with the exception of that dip. Thanks for reaching out, Samantha! -Marie
— Walmart (@Walmart)March 31, 2016
But Twitter users were not buying the excuses:
@Walmart @Samficco Really Walmart? pic.twitter.com/1pcVcABl5t
— Mark Andrade (@RaiderMark) April 4, 2016
@Walmart @Samficco Come on! That's a horrible attempt at covering up a mistake. Look at it! Just admit the mistake. It looks better.
— Ericaaa (@LempkeE) April 3, 2016
@Walmart oh my god this is one of the dumbest tweets ever
— Andrew Wiseman (@wisemana) April 5, 2016
@Walmart @Samficco sooooooo basically geography doesn't matter? Got it! Suck it elementary teachers cause walmart says so!
— Joe (@_Joebacca_) April 3, 2016
@Walmart @Samficco As a Maryland grad who lives in Boston, I would really like to purchase this abomination. Available via website?
— chris (@cpcollin) April 4, 2016
A few days later, a different spokesperson, Sonny, retracted the previous comments and offered an embarrassed apology:
@Samficco We’re so embarrassed we may never stick our head out of our shell again! Thanks for guiding this lost Terrapin back to MD! -Sonny
— Walmart (@Walmart) April 4, 2016
Another Twitter user named Victoria Owens apparently tweeted a photo of the same shirt last summer, though she refrained from tagging Wal-Mart:
Someone please tell me why Walmart has a shirt that says "terps" in the outline of the state of Massachusetts http://t.co/TQRfvdqbE9— V (@V)1436826992.0