Last week we posted a gallery of pictures of overweight and “odd” looking Walmart customers and employees. We framed it like Gawker’s “Blue States Lose” party photos, and let loose the image dump.

The mission of The Consumerist is to to inform, empower, and entertain consumers. The “Red States Lose: Gallery Of Walmart’s Beautiful People” failed the first two, and hardly managed the third.

If we had couched the gallery within some sort of discussion (or even a series of snarky comments) about the following:

• Walmart’s foray into selling organic foods – mere window dressing?
• What correlation exists between the proliferation of bulk products at discount prices and the obesity epidemic? The consumption epidemic?
• Walmart’s wholesome image belied by the in-store reality…

…then we might have something to work with. Perhaps not even then.

Instead, we’ve got a series of cheap fat jokes, leaving our readers confused and angry.

Apologies. Notre culpa. Sorry to our readers, and to the customers, mothers and grandmothers, unwittingly shown in the post. We shall endeavor. — BEN POPKEN