Walmart: Patti LaBelle’s Sweet Potato Pie shortage prompted by viral video

Walmart’s sales of Patti LaBelle Sweet Potato Pies have skyrocketed after a YouTube video review went viral and has been viewed nearly 2 million times.

In the video, James Wright reviewed the Walmart exclusive pie while belting some of LaBelle’s classics and dancing while he ate.

According to the New York Post, Walmart says the pies are selling roughly one every second. The pies are going so fast, there might not be any left by Thanksgiving. Walmart said it won’t be because a lack of effort.

“There’s a lot of moving parts. The suppliers have been working all weekend,” Kerry Robinson, vice president for bakery and deli at Wal-Mart, said. “We need something like 2 million pounds of sweet potatoes, and that’s not something easy to get.”

Robinson said they’ve swept through everything they had, including their Christmas volume.

According to PIX, demand is so high in some places they’re being sold second hand for $45 dollars a piece.

Wright said LaBelle called him personally to thank him for the review, she even complemented his voice.

“She kept thanking me, she kept thanking me, and she just kept telling me how much she loved me and she just kept telling me to be me. She was like ‘Boy, you could sang!’” Wright told Fox 32.

WalMart launched the pies in partnership with LaBelle in September.

Agencies/Canadajournal