(Twitter / @FinesseEnesse, @roywoodjr)

Superstore chain Walmart has pulled a Juneteenth-themed flavor of ice cream from its shelves following a backlash on Sunday and Monday from social media users who viewed the Juneteenth promotion as tacky and exploitative.

The ice cream flavor went viral following pictures that a shopper, Facebook user Electris Jones, posted from a Walmart in North Carolina on Saturday night.

The flavor of the ice cream was red velvet swirled with cheesecake. The packaging of the ice cream featured clasping hands and a pan-African-flag-inspired color palette. It was strikingly similar to the packaging of Walmart’s Pride Month flavor of ice cream.

Many posters on social media networks like Twitter pointed to Creamalicious, a Black-owned ice cream brand that also produces a red velvet and cheesecake swirl flavor. Some alleged Walmart had copied its flavor from Creamalicious.

A Juneteenth-themed display of paper plates, napkins and utensils also drew the ire of commenters online, who found it tasteless — especially the slogan “It’s the freedom for me” written on napkins.

Comedian and The Daily Show correspondent Roy Wood Jr. also made fun of the display and the increasing commercialization of Juneteenth in a tweet, leading to further spread of the story online.

Some found the Walmart Juneteenth promotion to be yet another example of Black culture being exploited for corporate profits.

In a statement made to Fox, Walmart "sincerely apologized" for the offending products and said it would review and remove its Juneteenth offerings. But as the new national holiday approaches next month, this likely won’t be the last time a company tries to sell products capitalizing on the celebration.


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Comments 3 total

Görktürks are furries

that ice cream looks pretty good tbh.

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greenhowie

Juneteenth is pretty much America in a nutshell : horrific atrocities celebrated with shitty products.

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A Concerned Rifleman

Juneteenth is a stupid holiday and the most obvious race bait ever put forth by this performatively woke establishment. It makes sense that anything attached to it also be equally as stupid and performative.

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