About

Coupon Carl is the nickname given to a CVS manager who called the police on a black woman customer, after she attempted to use a manufacturer's coupon at a Chicago store. Video of the incident went viral, similar to other incidents of white people calling the police on black people, such as BBQ Becky, ID Adam and Pool Patrol Paula.

Origin

On July 14th, 2018, Camilla Hudson posted on Facebook ^[1] about a hostile interaction that she had with a CVS store manager, after she attempted to redeem a manufacturer's coupon at a Chicago store. She wrote:

"I had the police called on me for attempting to use a coupon @ the CVS Pharmacy located at 6150 N. Broadway in Chicago! I stopped in to make a purchase using a coupon mailed to me by the product manufacturer, as replacement for problematic/defective product. The manager on duty said that he’d never seen a coupon like the one I had and said that he thought it was fraudulent. When I asked for his name and his title/role within the store, he became agitated and rude. When I pulled out my phone to document what happened and exactly what he’d said to me (AND how he’d said it!) he turned his back and walked away from me. When I followed him and demanded that he answer my question, he ran to the back of the store and slammed a door in my face. Meanwhile, the other manager, who’d been helping me initially, came running back to tell me that I’d better leave the store immediately, because he’d called the police."

The post (shown below) received more than 1,800 reactions, 1,100 comments and 1,800 shares in two weeks.

Spread

That day, Twitter ^[2] user @SURJ_ROC shared the video on Twitter. They tweeted using the hashtag (shown below, left), "#SayItIsntSoSaturday Here we go again. Introducing… Coupon Carl This is not a joke. This needs to stop. (PS white people, it is on us to stop this) People of Color deal with this http://every.single.day."

The following day, Twitter^[3] user @tiffandtaffy commented on the manager's shaking in the video. She tweeted,^[3] "So #CouponCarl wasn't shaking because of fear. This fool was MAD, BIG MAD that a black woman was not bowing down to his racist ass and completely disrespectful treatment. Don't confuse this shit." The post (shown below, center) received more than 10 retweets and 110 likes in two weeks.

Others compared the situation to other, similar, incidents of white people calling the police on black people for mundane reasons. Comedian Donnell Rawlings posted a photoshop parody of the television comedy Three's Company, featuring Permit Patty, BBQ Becky and Coupon Carl on Instagram. ^[4] Within two weeks, the post (shown below) received more than 6,700 likes.

On July 16th, The New York Times^[5] reported that the manager had been fired by CVS Health.

Several media outlets reported on the video, including The Daily Dot, ^[6] The Root,^[7] The New Yorker^[8] and more.

Search Interest

External References