Attention, Upstate NY Shoppers! Walmart Removes Boots with Awful Insignia

Walmart is facing criticism for a brand of boots that they were selling on their online marketplace.

The well-deserved backlash has caused the retailer to remove the product from their website, and now, they're attempting to contact the manufacturer of the product to figure out how this happened.

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Walmart Attempts to Explain Boots with Inappropriate Insignia on Tongue

A story from ABC News 10 in Albany, New York explained why shoppers in Upstate New York, and worldwide, will no longer be seeing a specific pair of boots on the Walmart online marketplace.

The boots were manufactured by a company called Harsuny, a third-party company that had been permitted to sell their items through Walmart's massive online infrastructure. The company offers shoe options for both men and women, but it was this particular pair of boots that caught the eye of several groups, including The Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Here was their tweet in the aftermath of Walmart removing the product from their website:

After the initial concern was raised, Walmart acted swiftly and removed the product from their website, though other products from Harsuny are still available. Walmart released a statement on the issue, in which they said they were attempting to contact the manufacturer to find out how this all happened.

Luckily for Walmart, and its shoppers in Upstate New York and nationwide, the shoes were reportedly never sold in a brick-and-mortar store; they were solely an online option, so you won't have to see them on a shelf near you.

It's a financially-savvy business model to have third-party companies selling their products using your online marketplace, but one that comes with a lot of risk. Walmart is a massive company, and the more options you add to your online store, the more oversight it requires to monitor every product that's listed.

That's where this whole problem began, and it makes me curious: what else is available on Walmart's website, that even they don't know about?

For now, however, this terrible and distasteful product has seen its last days on Walmart's website, and that's a very good thing.