Office Depot employees refused to print a poster for Charlie Kirk’s vigil, claiming that it was “political propaganda”. The customer then explained that the poster was for someone who died a couple of years ago, but the manager still insisted it was a “political propaganda”. The supervisor present on the floor told the customer, who disagreed with both him and the manager, that the company’s general manager would return to work next week, and he could discuss the matter further with him. 

A video of the heated exchange between the customer and the Office Depot employees has been going viral on social media. And as expected, people have flocked to the comments section of the video, arguing that printing a poster for a vigil should not be dismissed as “political propaganda”. Some even suggested that the employees should not “bring their personal issues to work”. Others called for a boycott of “Office Depot”. 

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In response, the company issued an apology for the “regrettable situation” and terminated the associate who repeatedly refused to print the poster on political grounds.

More details on the company’s statement will follow, but first, here’s the video that’s sparking widespread debate online.

What does the viral video show?

The video opens to show a customer entering a print-and-copy shop and saying, “Thank you. So, we came in for an order earlier to print a poster for a vigil tonight.”

“Yes, it’s propaganda. I’m sorry, we don’t print that here,” responds one of the employees present there.  

“All right, so what’s your name?” he asks another employee before the woman interrupts, “I’m one of the managers.”

She repeated, “Yes. So, unfortunately, we don’t print political propaganda.”

The customer tries to explain, “So, they say they don’t print political propaganda. So, this is somebody who passed away a couple of years ago.”

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“That’s political propaganda, unfortunately,” the manager reiterates. 

The customer continues, “So, this is for a prayer tonight, for a prayer vigil.”

“It’s still propaganda, unfortunately,” the manager insists once more.

Someone from behind the camera asks, “What makes it propaganda?”

The manager responds, “Because he’s a political figure, and I don’t have to…,” before the supervisor steps in, saying, “Our general manager is going to be in on Monday. If you want to speak further on the subject, if you would like to, you’re welcome to return.”

The poster shown in the video has a photo of Charlie Kirk with the words: “The legendary Charlie Kirk.”

Company issues statement

The company, after receiving social media bashing left and right, has issued a statement, saying that the behaviour displayed by their associates is not only “insensitive” but also “unacceptable”. 

“The behaviour displayed by our associate is completely unacceptable and insensitive, violates our company policies, and does not reflect the values we uphold at Office Depot. We sincerely apologise to the customer affected and to our community for this regrettable situation,” the statement read. 

It added, “Upon learning of the incident, we immediately reached out to the customer to address their concerns and seek to fulfil their order to their satisfaction. We also launched an immediate internal review and, as a result, the associate involved is no longer with the organisation.”

Office Depot further said that they are “reinforcing training” to ensure that the employees uphold “standards of respect, integrity, and customer service”. It further said, “Our customers and communities deserve nothing less.”