Naughty. Naughty. Naughty. No presents for you for making fun of others , just because they have glandular (sp?) problems, or are big boned, or have had one to many twinkies, or... well s**t, yea those are pretty funny..

This sort of thing doesn't sit well with me. Making fun of peoples grandma's for being overweight is a cold and bitter route to go down.
It's not like I don't have a sense of humor, but really what is the point of this?

That last picture is pretty hot, though. It almost makes up for the nasty pictures before it.

Ehhh. Cheap shots.

adamondi: I'm with you on that one.

And umm... how is this a political issue?

This is tame compared to what you can see in a Walmart, Target, or anywhere else every day here in Central Kentucky.

I'm not sure what the title means. Of the 9 photos 4 are in California, 1 in Washington, 3 in Texas and 1 in Arkansas.
That would make Blue 5, Red 4. Blue states win or lose. Also both stores in TX seem to be in blue counties in a red state.
The girl with the gun is making some point about Wal-Mart selling guns and liquor. You know what? You can drive your car to any liquor store and buy as much liquor as you can afford!! Some stores will even help you load the car! Of the 44,000 people killed in car crashes almost 17,000 involved alcohol. When will we stop selling alcohol to people with cars?
I vote independent by the way, I just noticed the first persons very funny flickr site has lots of LA photos so I did a quick total.

looks good to me, if you look like that you should be made fun of. anyway, these people wouldn't know that they are being made fun of. in the red states people actually think that they are normal and the "have's" rather than the "have not's".

The people pictured above...are the same type that we have here in the SF Bay Area Wal-marts.

And the 2 girls in the last picture are cute.

Eh, seeing evidence that stereotypes (as inaccurate as they may be) came about for a reason is, in my opinion, mildly funny. It's like seeing a woman driving down the highway while putting lipstick on. It's dangerous, sure. But it always gives me a chuckle.

Now, just to be fair, go over to the electronics section and take pictures of 98 pound weaklings hanging around the empty PS3 shelves.

Funny, looks like the Wal-Mart clientele here in MN too.

Er, one question -- where are the smaller girl's pants in the last picture? I'm seeing buttcheek there.

Regarding the last picture, and at risk of turning The Consumerist into Fark: I'd hit it.

I am gravely disappointed. There is not a single Tweety Bird shirt in sight. Although I bet there's a stylized Pooh Bear on the front of the pink-shirted model in photo #5.

Oh, I'd probably hit the one holding the gun, too.

Oh and Red States Lose on two counts - we have hipsters too. The only thing worse than a Brooklyn hipster is a Tampa hipster emulating a Brooklyn hipster.

I think WallyWorld clientele really is the same everywhere. You are what you eat, and what they sell to eat there will turn you into exactly that...and what they sell to wear there stretches just like that...two more good reasons to just not go there. ;o)

K-mart clientele was the same as Wally's in my area, until they closed all of the K-marts here. But Target has usually been a cut above -- there's a SuperTarget here with a grocery that carries the same brands as Whole Foods (for cheaper).

The demographic difference between Wally and Chez Target was noted recently by one of the 'redneck' comedians (not sure which one, I heard it in retelling) who said that his relatives shopped at Wally instead of Target because they had to get too dressed up to go to Target. The person re-telling the joke said he knew people who objected to getting dressed up enough to go to Wal-Mart. Does that mean there's a niche market below Wal-Mart's for the extremely dress code-impaired? (*Shudder*, probably.)

IMO, making fun of people who dress inappropriately for their shape is called 'social correction' and we should have more of it, so long as it is accurate and not motivated by meanness. Maybe we would be subjected to fewer public displays of blubber-in-spandex if the offenders knew they'd become the butt of jokes on the Internet. (Pun intended.)

Happy (and hopefully classier) holidays, y'all. *

not so funny.

How White Trash!

Keep up the good work.

Keep up the good work.

Keep up the good work.

No, no, wait a second here. No Zubaz? No acid washed shants? No mesh tank top? Without that stuff I can't consider my stereotypes truly validated - I mean what seperates Wal-mart shoppers frtom the fat slobs I see in Manhattan every day?

And people in the photos: Please don't purchase the $5.00 sunglasses, I don't think it would be wise to trust your vision to those things. Seriously.

Speaking of Target, am I the only one who wanted to reach into the TV and smack the shit out of Miss USA when she pronounced it "Tarjé"? Seriously folks, it's Target, like the thing bullets hit. Don't try to sound all sophisticated to make people think you're not shopping at a place just _slightly_ above Wallymart.

The next person I hear pronouncing it Tarjé who isn't suffering from Down's Syndrome or a documented speech impediment is going to need to have their jaw wired shut from the bitchslap I'm going to give them.

Ya know, I am a long time Consumerist reader, and occasional tipster and commenter. I know that this site deals out a lot of snark. And I've kept my mouth shut it in the past on comments by editors that I thought were over the line in the past, because I am not a whiner, and I really appreciate the mission of Consumerist But two posts today used exploitative pictures of fat folks for lowest denominator "humor". It's not cool. It's not funny. In fact, it's bigoted behavior and alienates readers plenty of whom (including me) are fat. Happy Holidays.

Yeah, this really struck me as unnecessarily mean. Did those people do something malicious to you to deserve this?

Maybe it's about some unfortunate fashion choices. Still, *how* is this pertinent to The Consumerist?

Making fun of customers is a bit odd, yeah. Aren't those the people you're trying to protect *from* companies like Wal-Mart?

thirdgen, your getting upset as if people are serious when they say "Tarjé", Every time I've heard it used it was said jokingly and tongue-in-cheek at the ridiculousness of Target being upscale, not in some serious manner. Relax.

What, no Britney?

I was terrified I would see myself in one of those photos. Not that I am ginormous, but does anyone look their best at Wal-Mart?

Somebody once pooped in the fitting room at our Wal-Mart.

And not a single one wearing a Nazi t-shirt? What's the point then?

grow up, jackass

I thought this was Consumerist; what do overweight people shopping at Walmart have to do with anything? I thought Gawker blogs were held up to a higher standard...leave the fat jokes to Fark.

rich815: I'm ok with people saying it jokingly, like say, on the Colbert Report. But this girl was saying it while bawling her eyes out, so I really don't think she was joking.

What the hell is the point of this article?

haha look at the poor people!

is this what I am suppose to get from this?

I was shocked to find this article posted on your feed. I have been subscribing for about a month and have appreciated your advice on purchasing decisions. However, there is no excuse for attempting to publicly humiliate people who happen to be in a different socio-economic situation than yourself. It is especially heinous given that you purport to be a site to aid such people with sound financial advice.

To abuse them simply to increase your "buzz" by appealing to the crass hoard who finds this garbage amusing demonstrates that you sunk far lower than any of those pictured could ever be. No class whatsoever.

I have unsubscribed from your feed but hope you review your actions and I look forward to subscribing again after you grow up.

wow, as snarky as i may be, i am still kinda taken aback that consumerist, a site i love because it empowers consumers to stand up for their rights and pocketbooks has decided to celebrate the holidays by humiliating strangers.

pretty mean spirited if you ask me.

my contribution to the criticism: booooooo.

yeah, leave this kind of mean-spirited snark to gawker or defamer.

OTOH. Do a GIS for "Tampa Hipster". Now that's funny.

The world is a mean place. Keep up the good work.

Lame at best. Reminded me of some high schooler's My Space page.

It's not evil, but this article, like it's subjects, did suffer from a distinct lack of "class".

Oh well, what's a little faux pas on Xmas? We're all family here, and this sort of joking is hardly absent from mine. Hell, I get cranky this time of year too, and I've boycotted Wally's for the last 5+ years, so I'm not even having to deal with that. ::shudder::

So. You're forgiven, but please, in the future remember that you've promised your readers that you'll take the moral high road. Doing so protects the validity of your message, and it's a message that we all believe in (except the shills, hi shills). I, for one, am quite grateful to you guys this holiday. You've done a lot of good this year. Danke schoen.

-pd

This post has an important update:

"That Walmart Photo Gallery Was Pretty Tasteless."

Read it before making additional comments.