Walmart's September 11 display was a bad, bad idea

With the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11th terrorist attacks just days away, commemorations are being held and displayed across the country. But one such display in a Florida Walmart has drawn the ire of a memorial gone awry.

It all began when Twitter user @online_shawn shared the below image of a display at a Walmart he claimed was in Florida. The photo showed various cases of Coca-Cola products stacked to resemble the World Trade Center in front of American flag in a strange, brand-heavy ode to the fallen towers.

(And, yes, those are Coke Zero boxes standing in for the towers, which fell at what is now called "Ground Zero.")

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To many, the display was considered incredibly crass.

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While others thought the display was fine.

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Spotting the worst brand tweets or displays on September 11th (or other days of remembrance and mourning) has become something of a morbid tradition, so others had a more tongue-in-cheek response to the Walmart display.

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According to the Orlando Weekly, the Walmart is located in Panama City, Florida and the display is being taken down. A spokesman for Walmart also seemed to imply to the publication the display was Coke's idea.

[Walmart spokesman [Charles] Crowson also let us know that Coke typically approaches Walmart with display ideas, and they either approve or deny it. In this case, Walmart approved the 9/11 display. 

In a statement emailed to Mashable, Walmart said, "We hold this moment in our country's history in the highest regard, and there was nothing disrespectful intended by the display being assembled. It was removed from our Florida store Wednesday."

A representative for Coca-Cola emailed a statement to Mashable saying, "This display was meant to honor local firefighters and to support their organization's upcoming event. We sincerely apologize that anyone was offended or misunderstood its intent, and we have replaced the display."