TORONTO -- An ugly Christmas sweater that depicts a snowman Santa sitting in front of what appears to be three lines of cocaine was among several 鈥渘aughty鈥� holiday sweaters pulled off Walmart.ca over the weekend after social media users noticed the items for sale on the website.
鈥淲e all know how snow works. It鈥檚 white, powdery and the best snow comes straight from South America,鈥� the original product description said, posted by a Twitter user.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why Santa really likes to take [sic] savor the moment when he gets his hands on some quality, grade A, Colombian snow. He packs it in perfect lines 鈥�. and then takes a big whiff to smell the high quality aroma.鈥�
The retailer apologized for the items and took them off line after from Global News, which first reported on the incident.
Other cheeky Christmas sweaters included one that showed a bottomless Santa facing a fireplace with the caption, 鈥淐hestnuts roasting on an open fire鈥�.
鈥淭hese sweaters, sold by a third-party seller on Walmart.ca, do not represent Walmart鈥檚 values and have no place on our website. We have removed these products from our marketplace. We apologize for any unintended offence this may have caused,鈥� a spokesman wrote in an email, reiterating its earlier apology over the weekend.
The items were made available through the , which allows third-party vendors to sell their items on the website, giving them access to the millions of customers who shop online at Walmart.
The company did not answer questions on what kind of approval or vetting process Walmart uses for third-party sellers and their products, and whether the company would make any changes to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Oh its marketplace website, Walmart says it looks for 鈥渞elationships with reputable retailers and brands that provide first-class customer service, a compelling product assortment, competitive pricing and fast, reliable fulfillment.鈥�
This is the latest in a sold by third-party sellers on Walmart鈥檚 websites that have attracted attention and controversy.
Earlier this year, social media users criticized the retailer for some of the that were available on Walmart.com including one that showed two check boxes, one for 鈥淕UN OWNER鈥�, which had a red checkmark, and one for 鈥淰ICTIM鈥�, which was left blank. Other shirts, such as one that says, 鈥淗ow do I feel about GUN CONTROL? (Break into my house and find out.)鈥� on the website.
Last year, the company came under fire for selling anti-trump clothing, with 鈥淚MPEACH 45鈥� across the front. And two years ago, a t-shirt that said 鈥淩ope. Tree. Journalist. SOME ASSEMBLY REQUIRED鈥� was . That same year, Walmart and pulled the product after a third-party seller used an offensive slur to describe an item鈥檚 colour.
Many of these clothing items that do not meet Walmart鈥檚 more 鈥渇amily-friendly鈥� image can still be found on Amazon.com, including some of the "ugly" Christmas sweaters.
Amazon.com stirred outrage last week as well, however, after a number of Christmas ornaments showing images of the Auschwitz concentration camps were listed for sale by third-party sellers. Amazon removed those items after they were .
