Nov 08, 2013 04:14 PM EST
Home Depot Racist Tweet: Company Apologizes, Customers React to Post

Home Depot is in hot water after posting a racist tweet this week, which angry Twitter users read as comparing a pair of African-American men to chimpanzees.

Home improvement maker Home Depot Inc. on Thursday apologized for a tweet that showed a picture of two African-American drummers with a person in a gorilla mask in between them.

The caption reads: "Which drummer is not like the others?"

The tweet, from Home Depot's official Twitter account, @HomeDepot, was part of a "College Gameday" college football promotion on ESPN. Home Depot said Friday it has fired the person and outside agency that was responsible for the tweet, but did not disclose their names.

"We have zero tolerance for anything so stupid and offensive," said Stephen Holmes, spokesman for the Atlanta-based company. "We're also closely reviewing our social media procedures to determine how this could have happened, and how to ensure it never happens again.

Home Depot is not the first company to get in trouble for offensive tweets. In September, AT&T apologized for a Twitter message that commemorated the Sept. 11 attacks because of complaints the company was using the event to promote itself.

KitchenAid faced backlash in 2012 when one of its employees mistakenly posted a tweet about President Barack Obama's grandmother's death on the official KitchenAid Twitter account.

Home Depot has since taken down the deleterious message and picture, but not before the damaging tweet was captured and launched across social media, causing immediate outcry. NBC and CNBC, among others, reported on the Tweet.

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