NORFOLK, Va. (WVEC) — Oops! A Norfolk State hat sold at the Walmart on Military Highway on Wednesday had a spelling mistake. The hat spelled Norfolk State, NorFORK State.
“[It's] very disrespectful, very rude,” said student Helen Hoffman. “I think they should pull it from the shelves.”
“I ain’t going to buy it, it’s not worth the $14 dollars they are trying to sell it for,” said student Siliah Burk.
“That’s not cool. That’s not cool at all,” said another student.
“This is just pathetic. You know what I’m saying. This is my school, how are you all going to spell the name wrong?” said student Briana Thompson.
The hat is made by Russell Athletic, a company responsible for numerous other hats and t-shirts throughout the store.
“It’s ridiculous because if they can’t spell Norfolk State, and all this money Russel Athletic is making, they need to get better than that,” said parent Sammy Davis Junior.
13News Now reached out to Russell Athletic and Walmart but neither sent a response regarding the hat. However, when 13News Now went to the store the hat was no longer on the shelves, and there was no word on how many were actually sold.
Many students said they would ask for their money back if they had already made the purchase.
However, there was at least one sports fan who bought the hat because the name was spelled wrong, The source of this story, James Castro.
“I just rolled my eyes because it was such an obvious mistake that happened. How could anyone approve this and let this go in retail?” said Castro.
Castro, being a sports memorabilia collector, purchased two of the caps in hopes the mistake increases its value someday.
“Hopefully there aren’t too many around like this, so I thought ok, I’ll just go ahead and buy it and see what happens,” said Castro.
Norfolk State University said they had nothing to do with the mistake, it is not a school issue. However, they added that inside the bookstore there are plenty of other hats with the correct spelling.
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