The Fast and the Furious fans were shocked when the Walmart Twitter account published an insensitive joke about the late Paul Walker. The joke came in response to a tweet about driving fast to a Walmart to get Pillsbury cinnamon rolls with pink strawberry and cream icing. Walker died in a car crash in November 2013 at age 40.
“I NEEDDDD THIS IN MY LIFEEEE!!!” one Twitter fan wrote. “Walmart Is Selling Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls With A Pink Strawberry And Cream Icing.”
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Another person replied to the tweet, including a popular GIF of a person carelessly driving fast. “Me racin to the nearest Wally World,” the person wrote.
“Hey, Paul Walker. Click it, or ticket,” Walmart’s official twitter response read. Whoever is behind the account added a police light emoji.
The tweet was up for more than two hours before TMZ noticed it. Afterwards, Walmart finally deleted the tweet.
The joke came from an episode of Workaholics, when Adam (Adam Devine) tells a woman he yelled, “Hey, Paul Walker. Click it, or Ticket” when they saw 2 Fast 2 Furious together.
Although the tweet has since been deleted, fans were horrified by the insensitive joke.
“Whoever was on Walmart’s social media clearly did not ask his team for advice before he said that Paul Walker line. Cuz someone in that room had to have known,” one person wrote.
“This ain’t funny at alll!!! Most messsed up thing ever… not the Paul walker joke but Walmart paying all their employees minimum wage,” another wrote.
“Dude, not cool. Paul Walker was known for giving back and helping others,” another person tweeted. “I met a wardrobe dresser when I worked on a commercial in the Captain America outfit. She literally cried talking about him.”
A couple of other Twitter users pointed out that the scene from Workaholics aired before Walker’s death.
“WalMart referencing a Workaholics line from 2011 (that was from an episode that aired before Paul Walker died) 7 years after Walker died and the line would be in poor taste is just another reason to not encourage the brands,” one person tweeted.
“On the surface they are just quoting a Workaholics ep that came out well before Paul Walker died and wasn’t referencing his death, but Walmart presenting it with no context is completely different and idiotic,” another wrote.
Walker died in a single-car crash in Santa Clarita, California in November 2013 at age 40, alongside driver Roger Rodas. His father and daughter reached settlements in separate wrongful death lawsuits against Porsche.
Photo credit: Ernesto Ruscio/Getty Images
