Editor’s note: The phrase on the mug features a derogatory term and may be offensive to some readers.
LINCOLN, Calif. -- A Lincoln mother to a young girl with Down syndrome demanded corrective action over a cup sold on two major websites.
"It might be a stupid mug to some people, but to us in the community, it's not. It strikes a nerve. It hurts," Teresa Holladay said.
The mug features the phrase, "Got Retard?" on it.
Holladay said she found the advertisement circulating on a private Facebook group and was appalled that the mug was up for sale on both Walmart.com and Amazon.com. The mug itself is made and marketed by a company listed as JM Holdings, LLC. She said she immediately called all of the companies and asked them to remove the mugs from their websites.
Walmart removed the mug from its website early Monday morning. Amazon removed the mug from its website Monday afternoon.
"If this is what a retard is, what a 'retard' looks like, then sign me up times ten! Because I made the conscious decision to keep her, knowing that I was going to have some extra challenges," Holladay said.
Holladay said she appreciated Walmart's swift action to remove the items from its website but thought that such huge corporations would have vetted the items before customers called in with complaints.
Walmart also responded to FOX40 in writing saying:
"This item was offered through a Marketplace seller. It clearly violated our prohibited items policy and once it was brought to our attention, we quickly removed it from the Marketplace. We think it’s unacceptable a seller put it on the site in the first place."
A Walmart spokesperson told FOX40 that the company's online marketplace currently had 24 million products for sale in it's growing catalog. He said hundreds of the thousands of items could be added to the site within a day, and because of that volume, it was difficult for the retailer to manually check each item before it went online. He said the company also used software to check the items.
"Just because she's different doesn't mean she can't do anything anybody else can do, and doesn't mean she should take slack from anybody. I don't care who it is. She should stand up for herself and that's what I want to instill in her as her mom...she is the light of my life," Holladay said.
Amazon and JM Holdings, LLC have not yet responded to requests for comment.
