Local resident and loyal customer of the Lewisburg Walmart, Mary Cixot, was shocked to see a full section of Tide Pods™ in the snack aisle on Jan. 23.

“I was just doing my Sunday shopping, looking for some gluten-free pretzels, when I almost grabbed a pouch of Tide Pods™! And I thought to myself, ‘Why…this can’t be right? Can it?” Cixot said.

Witnesses report Cixot shielded her children’s eyes and hurried them out of the aisle, leaving a full cart and her purse behind.

“I heard her say ‘Thank goodness we use Gain’ as she hurled those kids outta there,” fellow shopper Bill Emem said. “I think she should relax though. There are monsters out there who put pineapple on pizza after all.”

Employees informed Cixot that the pods were in fact placed with the snacks intentionally. As a part of Walmart’s new social media push, the company announced that the bite-size laundry detergent pouches would be located in the snacks section to appeal to a young, internet savvy consumer base.

“Our social media programming is really all about staying relevant,” Mark Wal, head of Walmart’s marketing department said. “For whatever reason, the internet fad these days is to eat laundry detergent so this is our show of support for the movement.”

This decision was met with national backlash from concerned customers. As of today, Walmart has no plan to pull the marketing campaign.