Did Walmart give employees this commemorative 9/11 pin? What we know

Walmart's history of creating pins for employees may have included this darker take on their smiley face mascot as a Sept. 11 tribute. Published Sept. 20, 2026 In September 2026, a claim circulated online that big box retailer Walmart once created special lapel pins for its employees to commemorate the 9/11 attacks. The rumor stems from posts on social media that include alleged photos of the pin, which features a frowning version of Walmart's Smiley mascot with a teardrop on its yellow face, along with a banner that reads, "September 11, 2001." The posts circulated before and after the 25th anniversary of 9/11 in 2026. Photos of the lapel pin appear to be authentic and specimens of the pin itself are available for purchase on eBay as of this writing, but it was not possible to verify that it was an official offering from Walmart's own line of employee pins, as online posts claimed. Snopes contacted Walmart to ask if the company created the pin. We also reached out to an eBay seller specializing in Walmart pins, including the 9/11 design in question, to ask for more details about it and where it was acquired. We will update this article if we receive a response. In September 2026, a claim circulated online that big box retailer Walmart once created special lapel pins for its employees to commemorate the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The claim gained steam online as people discussed the 25th anniversary of 9/11. Social media posts and Reddit threads include alleged photos of the pin, which features a frowning version of Walmart's "Smiley" mascot with a teardrop on its yellow face, along with a banner that reads, "September 11, 2001." One Facebook user wrote: After 9/11, Walmart reportedly gave employees commemorative pins featuring its famous yellow smiley face transformed into a frown with a single tear. Surviving examples have become unusual pieces of early 2000s memorabilia, though documentation about exactly when and how Walmart distributed them is limited. Walmart does have a history of issuing collectible pins to its employees. Examples of purported Walmart 9/11 commemorative pins have been put up for sale on eBay and elsewhere. However, it was not possible to independently verify that Walmart itself issued the 9/11 pin (as opposed to employees or others privately creating them), so we have left this claim unrated. Snopes contacted the retailer to ask if the company created it. We also reached out to an eBay seller specializing in Walmart pins, including the 9/11 design in question, to ask for more details about it and where it was acquired. We will update this article if we receive a response. Snopes found the pin listed for sale by eBay seller UpNorth Mercantile. One listing that was deactivated on Aug. 31, 2026, showed the pin retailing for $14.99. It appeared there had been a quantity of 30 available that either sold out or were unlisted by the seller. The same seller showed two live auctions for the pin with bids of more than $100 each, as of this writing. UpNorth Mercantile's eBay store showed dozens of collectible Walmart pins for sale, including the alleged 9/11 pin and other variations of Walmart's smiley face logo. Smiley was first introduced in 1990, according to Walmart's own timeline. It became the mascot for the brand's signature "Rollback" price-cut promotions in 1996, then was sidelined in 2006 due to a trademark war. In 2016, Walmart's then-chief marketing officer Tony Rogers proclaimed the return of Smiley. He said, "We first introduced Smiley in 1990 and, since then, he has been a widely recognized symbol for low prices. In fact, nearly 70% of our customers still associate Smiley with savings at Walmart even though he's been behind the scenes for the past decade." Walmart lightly documents its employee lapel pin culture on the corporate website, which says: Lapel pins may be small, but they hold big meaning! We use them to celebrate and commemorate. They show off our goals and our wins. They honor hometowns and heroes. Pins are our love language, our very own cultural currency. The website describes an annual event called Associates Week, scheduled around the time of the company's shareholders conference, as a "pin lover's paradise." According to Walmart, Associates Week brings together employees from across the globe, during which "pin trading becomes a common language." One of the Reddit threads featuring the 9/11 pin appeared in the r/WalmartEmployees subreddit, where current and former workers discuss working for the company. A search within the subreddit for conversations about employee pins yielded a wide variety of results, showing the prevalence of pin culture at the corporation. Users posted images of the 9/11 pin by itself or of one attached to a jacket. (Pangram) Snopes ran images of the pin through Pangram, an artificial intelligence detection service, including those taken from the various social media posts and eBay listings. All versions came back with results that declared no generative AI was used to create the images. It's important to note that such tools are not always reliable. None of the pictures we checked showed any signs of being AI-generated. In sum, it appears that photos of the lapel pin in question are authentic and specimens of the pin itself are available for purchase on eBay as of this writing, but it was not possible to verify that it was an official offering from Walmart's own line of employee pins, as online posts claimed. Sources "Associates Week Is a Pin Lover's Paradise." Associates Week Is a Pin Lover's Paradise, 2018, https://www.walmartworld.com/content/walmart-world/en_us/articles/2023/05/pin-trading--a-shareholders-meeting-tradition.html. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026.Communications, Emily Schmid Director Walmart Digital. "Why the (Smiley) Face? A Chat With Walmart's CMO." Walmart.Com, 2016, https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2016/06/01/why-the-smiley-face-a-chat-with-walmarts-cmo. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026."Precious Mementos." Precious Mementos, 2022, https://www.walmartworld.com/content/walmart-world/en_us/articles/2022/05/precious-mementos.html. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026.Replogle, Chris. 'Smiley Face Will Return to Walmart Stores'. Https://Www.Ky3.Com, 2 June 2016, https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Smiley-face-to-return-to-Walmart-stores-381690921.html."Walmart Museum Wants Your Pins!" Walmart Museum Wants Your Pins!, 2022, https://www.walmartworld.com/content/walmart-world/en_us/articles/2022/05/walmart-museum-wants-your-pins.html. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026."Walmart Smiley Timeline." Archive.Org, name, 2016, https://web.archive.org/web/20160606094522/http://corporate.walmart.com/photos/walmart-smiley-timeline. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026."Why Is Associates Week Special? 7 Things to Know." Why Is Associates Week Special? 7 Things to Know, 2023, https://www.walmartworld.com/content/walmart-world/en_us/articles/2023/05/what-is-associates-week.html. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026.Wire, C. N. N. 'Walmart's Smiley Is Back after 10 Years and a Lawsuit'. News 3 WTKR Norfolk, 2 June 2016, https://www.wtkr.com/2016/06/02/walmarts-smiley-is-back-after-10-years-and-a-lawsuit. By Joey Esposito Joey Esposito has written for a variety of entertainment publications. He's into music, video games ... and birds. Article Tags