Walmart Canada apologizes and pulls Christmas sweaters with Santa and cocaine

Walmart Canada is apologizing after inappropriate Christmas-themed sweaters, including one featuring Santa and cocaine, were being sold on its website by a third-party seller.

As first reported by Global News, the retailer has now pulled the line of sweaters. “These sweaters, sold by a third-party seller on Walmart.ca, do not represent Walmart’s values and have no place on our website,” a spokesperson for the company said in an emailed statement.

“We have removed these products from our marketplace. We apologize for any unintended offence this may have caused.”

One of the sweaters featured a wide-eyed Santa sitting in front of a table with three lines of a white substance and the words “let it snow.” The product description, according to screenshots posted on social media, was more specific and alluded to cocaine.

“We all know how snow works. It’s white, powdery and the best snow comes straight from South America,” the description read, according to screenshots posted on Twitter and in Global’s story.

“That’s bad news for jolly old St. Nick, who lives far away in the North Pole. That’s why Santa really likes to (savour) the moment when he gets his hands on some quality, grade A, Colombian snow.”

The sweaters were for sale on Walmart Marketplace, an Amazon-style service that allows approved third-parties to sell products on the Walmart website. Walmart did not respond to a question regarding the approval process for products and sellers its Marketplace website.

Earlier this month, Amazon pulled a Christmas ornament being sold on its site that featured images of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland after the Auschwitz Museum flagged it on Twitter.

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