Posted in: Movies, Sports, TV, WWE | Tagged: chris benoit, walkers, wrasslin, wrestling, wwe
British Snack Company Walkers Apologizes After Featuring Pro Wrestling Murderer Chris Benoit In Crisps Ad
British snack company Walkers found themselves in an embarrassing situation this week thanks to a promotion where they encouraged fans to send in selfies to win tickets to a soccer game. Trusting the internet was their first mistake, as they were of course sent photos of all manner of terrible people, but their next mistake was the worst of all, because, according to a report from 411 Wrestling, the company failed to recognize a photo of deceased pro wrestler Chris Benoit, who murdered his wife and child before committing suicide in 2007, and used the photo in a promotional video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5tCqMMy3DE
Walkers promptly learned their lesson, canceling the promotion entirely, and apologized for using Benoit's face in the video:
Benoit, who suffered from brain damage due to multiple concussions sustained during his pro wrestling career, was an active WWE performer at the time of the murders. While it was a major news story that received a lot of coverage at the time, WWE has never mentioned Benoit since or shown him on their televised programming (though his matches are still viewable on the WWE Network), so it's entirely plausible that someone who isn't familiar with pro wrestling wouldn't recognize Benoit on site. And Walkers isn't the only one to make this mistake recently. A comedy bit on the Ellen Degeneres Show also recently used a photo of Chris Benoit by accident.