Yesterday, as we’ve all seen on the news by now, a man in Nashville injured several people at a movie theater. And one Sprint employee who was interviewed on national TV about the violent incident apparently couldn’t help but plug his employer and its current promotion.

Speaking to Fox News’s Shepard Smith on Wednesday, the Sprint worker began his ear-witness account of the event by saying, “We were trying to promote our ‘cut your bill in half’ [promotion] when we had a couple police officers come in, tell us to lock all the doors, close everything.”

This is an obvious reference to Sprint’s ongoing offer to reduce new customers’ bills if they switch (though it’s more like 20% than half).

Later in the interview, Smith asks the man to clarify where he works in relation to the theater, but instead of giving an indication of whether the Sprint store adjoins the theater or is 500 yards away, the man responds, “We work at Sprint, where we cut your bill in half.”

This does not go unnoticed by Shepard, who seems to question the caller’s motivation for adding that detail.

“That’s nice advertising here in the middle of a shooting at a movie theater,” says the anchor.

The man, perhaps realizing that this may have come off as a bit crass, explains that “I’m just so used to saying it so much.”

After that, there are thankfully no further mentions of Sprint or its promotional offerings.

UPDATE: A rep for Sprint says the company is talking to this employee’s boss “to determine the appropriate course of action,” and that “Clearly the decision made by an employee at one of our dealer-owned stores to mention one of our recent promotions was inappropriate during a tragic situation.”

[via TPM]

Thanks to Steve for the tip!

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