In early August 2023, some social media users reported being caught off guard after they said they were shown ads that offered caskets for sale at Sam's Club.
Online Users Tweet About Casket Ads
One user tweeted, "It's 2 am and Sam's Club is trying to sell me a casket on TikTok... send help":
it's 2 am and sam's club is trying to sell me a casket on tiktok... send help
— Vee ?? (@VeeTriesToChat) August 8, 2023
Another person also tweeted in disbelief after being served one of the ads:
Why tf sams club advertising caskets on tik tok..
— Benito (@BenitoBIII) August 8, 2023
A third user reported seeing a TikTok ad for a casket that was offered at $1,399:
I just got a TikTok ad for an oversized casket from Sam's Club.
I'm really not sure how much more "Bad" a Bad Omen can get. pic.twitter.com/0MQYVVE8w3
— Grosdoriane (@Grosdoriane) August 7, 2023
We were able to confirm that such ads were being displayed to some TikTok users. The products being advertised were under Titan Casket brand. They included a casket for military veterans, an oversize casket, a stainless steel casket, and potentially others.
We reached out to a representative for Sam's Club to ask if the offers appearing on TikTok were official ads that were being managed by the company. If yes, we also inquired about why the ads were being displayed. This story will be updated if we receive further details.
TikTok User Comments
One of the ads we reviewed had received 570 likes, 158 comments, and 126 shares.
"This is my second casket ad in an hour," one TikTok user commented.
"An advertising intern is about to either get fired or given a full-time job idk," another person said.
At least one user made a remark about how the tune in one ad sounded like happy and carefree stock music, which stood in stark contrast to the product that was being offered.
"Sam's Club has everything," a different user said.
Titan Casket
After this story was published, we were contacted by Joshua Siegel, co-founder and COO of the Titan Casket company.
In Siegel's email, he told us that Titan Casket wasn't responsible for the Sam's Club ads on TikTok, but said that the company does advertise its products.
"In short - YES - we definitely advertise caskets," Siegel said. "The reason is that families have a federal right (the FTC's 'Funeral Rule') to buy their caskets and urns outside of funeral homes, and we help them save massively when they do so. We sell through titancasket.com, but also through Costco, Sam's Club, Amazon, etc."
Siegel shared a video for a "CBS Sunday Morning" segment that once featured the company and its mission.
He also told us that one of the company's caskets could be seen in one of Taylor Swift's music videos.