Zombies strike again in hardware store video

A short film about employees of an Ace hardware store and their theories about zombie battles received a definite thumbs down from Ace corporate's Facebook page.

The video, which is described on YouTube as a Sundance Film Festival entrant, consists of several interviews of young Ace store employees who share their appreciation of zombie movies and the kind of products in an Ace store that could combat the undead monsters. 

Some were not amused.

Calling it "deplorable," a Facebook posting from Ace corporate criticized the video for its violent and anti-customer overtones. “We are aghast and outraged that these individuals used our nationally recognized brand in this film,” said the Facebook posting.

The short film, called “When the Zombies Come," is not the first time for an Ace store to embrace zombies. The 88-unit Westlake Ace Hardware chain used a zombie theme to promote its stores through a humorous campaign in 2010. A series of mock news casts posted on YouTube and Facebook described the Lenexa, Kan.-based chain as striving to serve customers both “alive and undead." 

Ace corporate recently purchased Westlake Ace from private equity firm Goldner Hawn Johnson and Morrison. 

Opinions expressed on Facebook differed greatly as to the appropriateness of the short film, with some endorsing it and others finding it distasteful.