Wayfair: Tom Hanks gets linked to child-trafficking conspiracy as Internet comes up with bizarre theory
Shortly after Ellen DeGeneres was dragged into the Wayfair conspiracy theory for her association with the furniture company, social media users have now linked another celebrity to the controversy — Tom Hanks. The followers of the conspiracy now believe that Hanks was involved in some way into the child trafficking claims because of an Instagram picture he posted in July 2016.
Wayfair began trending on social media last week on July 10, after thousands of people took to Twitter to indulge in a conspiracy theory, accusing Wayfair of child trafficking. The theory started after people noticed that the company was charging exorbitant prices for items like storage cabinets and throw pillows, and although all of the items appeared identical they allegedly had different names written on the item descriptions. Some social media users believe that the furniture and home-goods company is selling "missing children" through their high-priced cabinets and throw pillows costing nearly $10,000 to $12,000 and $9,000. One aspect of the theory claims that the product stock keeping unit numbers (SKUs) can be used to find pictures of young girls on a Russian search engine.
Social media users have now allegedly linked Tom Hanks to the search engine. Some conspiracy theorists who dug deep into Hanks' Instagram archives discovered a strange picture posted on July 18, 2016, where he shared a picture of a glove he found lying on the ground in Red Bluff, California. Hanks, in the caption, wrote: "Gimme five!" However, in the picture, next to the glove, the words 'SRC USA' appeared to be scrawled on the ground.
During the onset of the conspiracy theory, many social media users, including Redditors, reported that when they searched the SKU codes of the suspected items on the Russian search engine Yandex along with "SRC USA", the search results allegedly produced images of little girls. However, if a person uses any combination of numbers preceded by "SRC USA," the results would be similar.
Ever since the picture reemerged on social media with alleged links to the Wayfair conspiracy theory, many users commented on the picture attempting to figure out what it has to do with the theory. While there were several other users who appeared heartbroken believing Hanks may be linked to the theory.
Earlier, Ellen DeGeneres was questioned on Twitter for her Wayfair collection that allegedly included a five-figure pillow. Many followers of the child trafficking conspiracy theory began suspecting and questioning whether the talk show host was involved in the bogus theory.
Wayfair, last week, had released a statement rubbishing the claims, stating: "There is, of course, no truth to these claims. The products in question are industrial grade cabinets that are accurately priced. Recognizing that the photos and descriptions provided by the supplier did not adequately explain the high price point, we have temporarily removed the products from site to rename them and to provide a more in-depth description and photos that accurately depict the product to clarify the price point."