Calls for boycott over elephant photo

Jimmy John’s is trending on Twitter, and it’s not because of the Chicken Sandwich Wars or its free house contest.

The hashtag #BoycottJimmyJohns was trending Friday with calls for a boycott of the sandwich restaurant, after a photo of the company’s founder Jimmy John Liautaud with an elephant he killed resurfaced.

The photo itself is old and has frequently made the rounds on Twitter.

On Friday, Brother Nature, who has a Twitter following of 2.3 million, retweeted an April 19 tweet and wrote “We boycotting Jimmy Johns.”

The tweet has been retweeted nearly 65,000 times and liked more than 175,000 at 2:45 p.m. ET, 11 hours after it was posted.

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Twitter user @DiamondJoe1985 responded to Brother Nature’s tweet with a plea.

“Please learn about African wildlife conservation before boycotting anything and making assumptions. Every damn time one of these pics pops up people go crazy and don’t have the slightest clue about the entire process,” @DiamondJoe1985 tweeted to Brother Nature, which he retweeted. “And the actual benefits behind this type of hunting.”

Follow USA TODAY reporter Kelly Tyko on Twitter: @KellyTyko