Saturday, December 21, 2013

People Respond To A&E Controversy By Spending Millions On "Duck" Goods

Walmart Sells Out of 'Duck Dynasty' Merch in Show of Support

Friday, 20 Dec 2013 10:09 PM
By Cathy Burke
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'Duck Dynasty' merchandise is flying off Walmart's digital shelves, with a variety of goods related to the popular A&E reality show out of stock as a furor rages over patriarch Phil Robertson's anti-gay comments and his TV future.

The Robertson family has a merchandise empire worth $400 million, according to Forbes, with sales in Walmart acounting for about half of that amount.

And fans, despite the controversy, aren't shying away from the Duck paraphernalia, The Daily Mail reported Friday. The array ranges from T-shirts to bedding, posters, watches and toys, but by Friday night, many of the items were listed as "out of stock online."

Word of the shopping stampede was burning up social media as well, with fans spreading the word via Twitter.

"Duck Dynasty's multi-million payday: WalMart sold out
A&E fired Phil, but he is LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK," one tweeter observes, while another urges: "Wal-Mart has sold out of all #DuckDynasty items. Show your support for the Robertson family by purchasing here," providing a link for the purchase.

The Dailly Mail quoted another tweet: 'Your stores may look quite vacant when you pull down the Duck Dynasty merch. May want to double down on the Honey Boo Boo."

A Walmart spokeswoman declined to comment to the newspaper.

According to Forbes, Walmart announced its best-selling item of apparel for both men and women this year was the show's T-shirt.

"Walmart publicly dumped Paula Deen after the Southern chef’s headline-grabbing allegations of racism this past summer, although you can still find her cookware on Walmart.com," wrote Forbes scribe Clare O'Connor.

"The question is whether the powers that be in Bentonville, Ark. believe Robertson’s vile homophobia will anger their shoppers the same way they clearly imagined Deen’s apparent racism would."

The Robertson clan warned that they "cannot imagine" doing the A&E series without patriarch Phil Robertson who has been suspended indefinitely after he told GQ magazine that homosexuality was a sin and compared it to bestiality, among other things.

A&E has yet to publicly clarify what the future of the show might be, what they'll do with their block of reruns, or what the suspension means, CNN reported Friday night.

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