A family-owned jeweler thought it had a funny,Maninilip (2025) witty take on an old adage so the company put it on a billboard.

Spicer Green Jewelers' cheeky sign told motorists "Sometimes, it's ok to throw rocks at girls..." What the owners thought was an innocuous phrase invoking nostalgia and promoting the store's diamonds and gems quickly turned into a storm of outrage.

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Once the message spread online, the North Carolina store was mercilessly criticized for being sexist, tone-deaf and out-of-touch.

Last week Chelsea Clinton called out the sign in a tweet, writing, "Talking about hitting girls is never funny. Ever."

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There's been an endless barrage of disgusted comments on social media and the company's Yelp page. One user gave a one-star rating and called out the billboard for being in "poor taste and insensitive to the issues of gender and abuse."

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Just in case anyone is confused: it's NEVER ok to throw rocks at girls. Seriously, who approved this? #facepalm https://t.co/Dd7bGPuhIC

— Meghan smith (@MegitaSmith) March 28, 2017

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Even a small protest was held in front of the company's Asheville, North Carolina, store on Sunday.

This all led to the company issuing an apology on their Facebook and Twitter pages. Instead of a conveying a message of abuse or violence, they said, "We intended the billboard as a play on words to encourage the loving act of gift giving."

Now the jeweler is considering taking the ad down early. In an interview with a local news station, the store's co-owner said they were donating 10 percent of sales from last week to a domestic violence shelter to help protect victims of domestic violence and rape.

Looks like the company got the message.