A minor league baseball team is under fire after promoting a Fourth of July "Big Beautiful Buffet" priced at $47.45, sparking backlash across TikTok and Reddit.
The controversy began when the Memphis Redbirds, a AAA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, shared a social media post advertising the Independence Day buffet at AutoZone Park, according to a viral Reddit post. But fans quickly noted the price ($47.45) as a likely reference to Trump, who was the 45th president and is now the 47th.
Though the original post was deleted within hours, screenshots circulated widely, especially after TikTok creator @rachcrutchfield shared a clip calling out the pricing and tone of the promotion. Commenters on both platforms labeled it "offensive" and "outright tone-deaf," with many criticizing the use of a patriotic holiday to push what they saw as partisan messaging.
@rachcrutchfield This is kinda insane and bad marketing in my opinion #greenscreen #bigbeautifulbill #trump #memphis #memphisredbirds #baseball #mlb #politik #news
♬ original sound - Rach Crutchfield
The team responded by deleting the post and issuing a public statement:
"We understand that our recent post missed the mark and unintentionally caused offense. That was never our intent. And we've removed the content. We appreciate your feedback and are committed to doing better."
Critics say it's implausible that the $47.45 figure was coincidental, especially when paired with the phrase "Big Beautiful," a Trump-favored term often used to describe his border wall and legislative efforts.
"It wasn't unintentially offensive. They put 47.45 in the damn ad, they knew exactly what they were doing," a Reddit user wrote.
"My favorite part is that it's $47.45 instead of the obvious $45.47, cause you gotta squeeze out that last $1.98," another user added.
The team was forced to respond a second time after being called out for using AI to generate their original apology.
"It was ChatGPT," the Redbirds responded to one fan's social media critique. "There is a lot of negative feedback we are trying to manage effectively. but thank you for calling us out for trying to make it easier on our team. We want to make this right...I appreciate you holding us to a higher standard."
Meanwhile, the team has not said whether the buffet event will be renamed or repriced, but they are likely to face continued pressure as the July 4 weekend approaches.
Originally published on Latin Times
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