People of Walmart Is a Hit Walmart Can't, and Shouldn't, Stop

Best Thing to Do Is Stay Quiet, Let Hoopla Die Down

Posted by B.L. Ochman on 09.09.09 @ 12:08 PM

People of Walmart is a new blog that lets people upload, rate and comment on photos of oddly dressed people seen shopping at Walmart. And it would seem there's not a damn thing Walmart can -- or should -- do about it.

Walmart should be a good sport
If Walmart tries to squash the site, they'll quickly become the laughing stock of social media. If they laugh with the site, they'll be accused of laughing at their own customers.

PeopleofWalmart.com

They're better off to stay quiet and let the hoopla die down. Which it will, eventually, if Walmart doesn't get heavy-handed. It's not a site that's likely to do lasting damage to the brand, or help it. It's a joke that's gone viral.

But my bet is that Walmart won't suck it up and be a good sport. Time will tell.

Look closely, this woman is subtle (sort of)
The caption on this photo is "You know you don't have to dress as the logo to shop there, right?" Look closely. This woman is subtle, compared to other featured shoppers, most of who are anything but.

People of Walmart was launched in early August by 23-year-old Andrew Kipple, his brother, Adam, 25, and their childhood friend Luke Wherry, 23. The site has since gone viral, been covered in mainstream media, and attracted more than 15,000 Twitter followers. There has been so much traffic that they had to move to bigger servers.

We just want to have some fun
The founders say they draw the line at people who are handicapped: "We don't make fun of people who can't help their appearance. ... Let's face it; we all have seen the people who obviously don't have mirrors and/or family and friends to lock them in a basement, and they all seem to congregate at Walmart."

Humorless Walmart spokesman David Tovar declined to speak to ABC News, saying that "it doesn't seem likes it's news that there's a website that allows people to post photos on it."

Social media, defined
What gives the site its viral appeal is the universality of the joke. The site makes you laugh and that makes a lot of people want to share a good giggle with family and friends, as well as their Twitter, Facebook and MySpace communities. In a nutshell, that desire to share something you like, or dislike, defines social media.

"It's not everywhere that you can shop for milk at 10 a.m. next to a 400lb mother of 6 wearing a pink tube top, leopard tights, and hooker heels," says the site's "About" page, which also notes that "This is purely for entertainment purposes and strictly limited to the outrageously bad / ugly / creepy / crazy shoppers. ... We are trying to have some fun here."

~ ~ ~
B.L. Ochman is a marketing strategist and blogger and can be found Twittering, at WhatsNextOnline.com or with her newest venture, Pawfun.com.

17 Comments

By rjw2116 | New York, NY September 9, 2009 12:38:31 pm:

They can either let the site fizzle off on its own or they could flip the script and use this idea in their own communications. I would choose the latter. Check out my blog where I give some examples of my favorite ads www.ad-vantage-us.blogspot.com

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By dearadvertising | Toronto, ON September 9, 2009 02:10:38 pm:

That website is awesome. Thanks for the story and for pointing me in the direction of that URL. I would love to see Wal-Mart deny that site or try and save face. That is there clientele. They chose that route and now they have to live with it.

http://dearadvertisin.blogspot.com/

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By BL | NEW YORK, NY September 9, 2009 03:04:08 pm:

My worry about the site is that it easily could get mean. If I were running it, I'd be covering people's faces. I hope they have the good sense to keep it light.
BL

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By rjw2116 | New York, NY September 9, 2009 06:40:46 pm:

@ BL. Your afraid it will get "mean". Come onnnnn... We all need to grow up and stop being so wimpy.

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By FreeAcaiBerry | Columbus, OH September 9, 2009 10:37:22 pm:

It was impossible to even get to the site yesterday as the load was so high. Even the cached version of the site on Google would not respond. That is viral.
Steve
http://freeacaiberry.org

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By BL | NEW YORK, NY September 9, 2009 11:22:00 pm:

Hey rjw2116 - talking about being wimpy - thanks for your anonymous comment

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By JessicaGottlieb | sherman oaks, CA September 10, 2009 11:41:50 am:

Oh I have a little love affair with POW. It absolutely delights me, who knew that many folks pooped their pants?

It absolutely violates everything that Blogging With Integrity stands for, so I've decided to throw integrity under the bus and embrace POW.

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By BL | NEW YORK, NY September 10, 2009 11:59:44 am:

Jessica - you're not alone! POW certainly is a funny acronym for the site!

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By gborden | Waukesha, WI September 10, 2009 12:16:25 pm:

Like failblog.org, awkwardfamilyphotos.com and others like it, these sites are catching on. Their quick to the joke and can easily be shared with anyone. My workplace loves these.

www.clevurdesign.com

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By jimmygilmore | Atlanta, GA September 10, 2009 12:43:47 pm:

Ignoring something is one way to handle a problem you don't want to address directly. The life of even the most viral things is pretty short. This could very well be the best strategy.

Another way to handle it is to bury it in your own content. Create a similar but flattering site and then promote it like crazy. This could help suck the oxygen out of the room.

@jimmygilmore
jimmygilmore.wordpress.com

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By BL | NEW YORK, NY September 10, 2009 01:33:35 pm:

Jimmy - agreed about the short lifespan of viral campaigns - unless a company gets heavy-handed or fails to respond when response is needed.

Interesting idea about creating a site with flattering photos of Wal-mart customers but where would they find the gorgeous customers (hehe) and isn't that what advertising used to be about?

in this case, i think just letting it run its course is the best approach.

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By cjc0328 | Arlington, VA September 10, 2009 02:33:30 pm:

I bet if you look back on viral campaigns tied to larger Blue Chips, the few times the companies just roll with it, it rarely hurts their overall corporate image or bottom line.

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By aaron | Springfield, MO September 10, 2009 02:56:30 pm:

Let's do a "Ladies of Target" site. There seem to be an abundance of attractive women that shop there.

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By rjw2116 | New York, NY September 10, 2009 04:42:53 pm:

@BL I am far from anonymous if you want to get to know me better you can check out my blog (www.ad-vantage-us.blogspot.com) I don't want to turn this into a back and forth between the two of us, I just think that we all need to stop taking ourselves too seriously. Its a site with pictures on it.... nothing more nothing less. People want to be entertained and if there are that many people who love to look at pictures of people in Walmart then thats great, however I doubt that there is a sub-cuture of people interested in this. I think we need another way to describe this type of sensation driven online environment. This is not a viral culture because there is no possible way to get rid of a virus, these sites and videos dissipate after a little while and you don't hear from them again.

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By stree | Boston, MA September 20, 2009 09:03:45 am:

I admit some of the photos (and comments) posted are pretty hilarious. But coming from a journalism background, I have to ask how legal this is? In journalism school (and law class) we were taught the importance of getting a release signed before publishing anyone's photo. I am wondering how sites like this are allowed to break a law that through 200 years of "freedom of the press" was enforced in courts?

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By karanuck | Jacksonville, FL October 15, 2009 01:41:52 pm:

I love the site. I found out about it from a friend in September. It is everything we've all been saying for years. It is no surprise that this would have eventually happened. What do expect when you have a company that dominates small towns and stays open 24 hours? It is hilarious...period.

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By donnadp | Risign Sun, MD October 26, 2009 01:36:23 pm:

First I'd like to say "SO TRUE!" It is amazing what you see people wearing in Walmart. You don't see that at the mall, or other stores.....The fact is people do not take pride in their appearance and if it takes a site like this to make people open their eyes, then so be it. If you don't want your picture to end up on this site, don't dress to bring attention to yourself. Keep a postin those pictures!!

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