Yeesh...Wal-Mart Yanks Magazines [Archive]

Timemaster Tim

05-06-2003, 08:32 AM

How long do you think it'll be 'til some of these "Christian Groups" pick up a copy of PC Gamer, etc. and see all the bloodshed inside its pages?

I think Bud from Repoman has the right attitude.

"Well, you better not be. I don't want no commies in my car. No Christians either!"

DennyA

05-06-2003, 08:35 AM

Why does Wal-Mart suck? Aren't they just doing what their customers want?
No, Wal-Mart is doing what a vocal, puritan subset of its customers wants.

DavidCPA

05-06-2003, 09:12 AM

Why does Wal-Mart suck? Aren't they just doing what their customers want?
No, Wal-Mart is doing what a vocal, puritan subset of its customers wants.

You called that one. Those mags may be a bit racy, but I don't think they go over the line. They are the male equivalent of Vogue, Cosmo, and the like.

I also don't agree with Wal-Mart not carrying the full version of CDs. It's OK to offer the edited and explicit versions. Just don't sell the explicit version to kids if that is people's hangup.

-DavidCPA

PS....I was at Wal-Mart this weekend and noiced huge posters in the clothing area that had women modeling swimsuits including bikinis. They must go I tell you before we all are damned to hell! Wal-Mart should only sell one piece swimsuits for women. Let's protest, who's with me?

Rywill

05-06-2003, 09:14 AM

Huh. I don't know anything about this issue specifically, but it seems bizarre to me that Wal-Mart would shoot themselves in the foot by yanking a magazine that most people want to buy, just because a few people object. My guess would be that either A) more people dislike the magazine than like it; or B) the people who dislike the magazine spend so much more money at the store than the ones who like it that Wal-Mart would hurt its business by losing them. In either case, it seems like Wal-Mart is just making a rational business decision, and the problem lies with the antisexuality issues that this country (particularly the heartland) has.

benj

05-06-2003, 09:24 AM

Who the hell shops for clothes at Wall Marts? I usually go the the Gap! I would never be seen at WalMart because it's filled with non-educated hicks.

-just my opinion...

DavidCPA

05-06-2003, 09:27 AM

Does Wal-Mart still sell Dixie Chicks CDs or did they go the way of this radio station:

http://www.salon.com/ent/wire/2003/05/06/dixie_chicks/index.html

How stupid is that?

-DavidCPA

DavidCPA

05-06-2003, 09:28 AM

benj

05-06-2003, 10:11 AM

Who the hell shops for clothes at Wall Marts? I usually go the the Gap! I would never be seen at WalMart because it's filled with non-educated hicks.

-just my opinion...

I've never bought one single piece of clothing for myself from the Gap. I guess you can lump me in with the non-educated hicks who shop at Wal-Mart :D

-DavidCPA

Haha.. Actually I'll buy my work clothes at Kmart and my weekend/college clothes at the Gap, Structure, etc..

David.. why don't you like the Gap? Is it the $70 jeans? The $40 shirts? or the $20 boxers? :D

DavidCPA

05-06-2003, 10:15 AM

David.. why don't you like the Gap? Is it the $70 jeans? The $40 shirts? or the $20 boxers? :D

Wal-Mart prices:
Jeans/Jean Shorts - $15
Shirts (solid color t-shirts) - $4
Boxers - $7 for a pack of 6

I do shop at J.C. Penney for my work clothes (Dockers and such) which is pricier than WM, but cheaper than the Gap.

-DavidCPA

Ergo

05-06-2003, 11:54 AM

You are a fashion god.

Mike Cathcart

05-06-2003, 12:28 PM

Educated people shop at Wal-Mart? Wow.

Dave Long

05-06-2003, 12:41 PM

WTF is wrong with you guys. You know that clothing you're buying is made by people making like 5 cents an hour under slave labor conditions right?

--Dave

Xaroc

05-06-2003, 12:42 PM

I have to agree with Dave.

Fuck Wall-Mart.

-- Xaroc

Mike Cathcart

05-06-2003, 12:54 PM

I've written one song in my life. It was when I was in a band in high school called The Moops. The song was called "Fuck Wal-Mart", and I'm pretty sure it was the best song we ever wrote. Anyway, I'm going to assume Xaroc is quoting my song, which makes me famous. The end.

Reeko

05-06-2003, 12:57 PM

WTF is wrong with you guys. You know that clothing you're buying is made by people making like 5 cents an hour under slave labor conditions right?

--Dave

Precisely why I stopped shopping at the Gap (http://www.globalexchange.org/economy/corporations/saipan/20021002_376.html).

DavidCPA

05-06-2003, 01:00 PM

WTF is wrong with you guys. You know that clothing you're buying is made by people making like 5 cents an hour under slave labor conditions right?

--Dave

That actually might be something to protest. Can I have a link please? Similar to the Gap link above.

-DavidCPA

voltaic

05-06-2003, 01:02 PM

I hate the GAP because of corporate politics.

I shop at Macy's for clothes. Decent button-up shirts, sockies, pants, etc. When it comes to underoos... uh, I mean boxers, it's all about the expensive stuff. My ass prefers comfort. Hehe.

SpoofyChop

05-06-2003, 01:12 PM

Only in a country with so many freedoms can people become enraged when a SINGLE retailer pulls 3 magazines off its shelves.

Then again...

"First they came for Maxim and I did nothing."

:roll:

Dave Long

05-06-2003, 01:32 PM

Only in a country with so many freedoms can people become enraged when a SINGLE retailer pulls 3 magazines off its shelves.

Then again...

"First they came for Maxim and I did nothing."

:roll:

That SINGLE retailer is simply the largest in the world afaik. They are so influential, companies build their offices in the same town as Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters. So influential that some companies have their people reciting the words of Sam Walton, the prophet for all who would work with Wal-Mart. They're so influential, to not be in their stores can be corporate suicide.

It's a little different than if podunk bookshop decides that Maxim is too racy for their stores. When Wal-Mart speaks, EVERYONE listens. I'm sure the folks at Maxim's publisher are shivering in their boots despite their PR speak in the article.

You guys realize that the main reason we have small PC boxes today is because Wal-Mart insisted on them or they would stop carrying as many PC games. They demanded the box and they got it.

--Dave

SpoofyChop

05-06-2003, 01:34 PM

When Wal-Mart speaks, EVERYONE listens. I'm sure the folks at Maxim's publisher are shivering in their boots despite their PR speak in the article.

Hmmm...that's a point I suppose.

Sux0rz 2 b Maxim then.

Ignatius P. Reilly

05-06-2003, 01:40 PM

They also banned the sale of John Cougar Mellencamp's "Mr. Happy Go Lucky," so maybe we should cut them a little slack.

Jason McCullough

05-06-2003, 02:25 PM

WTF is wrong with you guys. You know that clothing you're buying is made by people making like 5 cents an hour under slave labor conditions right?

--Dave

Yes. If I don't buy it, the people making it will go back to 3 cents an hour subsistence farming for a living.

Kevin Grey

05-07-2003, 05:41 AM

When Wal-Mart speaks, EVERYONE listens.

Yeah, lets not forget about that unfinished flight sim that Strategy First shipped last year just to meet a Wal-Mart deadline.

graller

05-07-2003, 07:43 AM

Dr. K-Smart

05-07-2003, 08:18 AM

http://www.msnbc.com/news/909884.asp?0cv=CB20

How long do you think it'll be 'til some of these "Christian Groups" pick up a copy of PC Gamer, etc. and see all the bloodshed inside its pages?

Wal-Mart sucks.

--Dave

They are listening to a small subset of their customer base, yes, but I guarantee the majority of Wal-Mart customers couldn't give a rat's ass if they aren't carrying 3 magazines. I can see the point of these wackos who don't want those magazines in there, and do you really think that people are going to go "Fuck this shit! You don't carry retarded magazines with mostly-naked celebrities and articles on how to get my girlfriend to have anal? Then I'm not buying your fucking ridiculously low priced yet moderately high quality merchandise."

And really, who's getting hurt here? Maxim et al. are going to do just as much business. Even more business now that some dumbfuck teenager who'd never heard of these magazines thinks that he should check out what's so racy. It's not hard to walk down the street to any of the millions of places who sell those magazines. If anything, Wal-Mart is giving back business to smaller book/magazine/grocery/convenience stores.

Wal-Mart can do whatever the hell they want. It's their store.

SpoofyChop

05-07-2003, 08:19 AM

Seriously - I read an article about some mainstay product...was like Heinz ketchup < not that specifically, but that level of successful namebrand>. Walmart decided not to carry them and poof - 6 months later they were bankrupt. Walmart absolutely dictates price, style, and whether a product can succeed.

If you can actually substantiate this vague remembrance I'd appreciate it. I'd really love to read that article. Sounds interesting.

Like I said though, too bad for Maxim. This isn't censorship, it's not a monopoly, and there's nothing illegal about it. If Maxim is truly something people want to buy, they'll buy it someplace else or they'll subscribe.

Jason McCullough

05-07-2003, 11:26 AM

Bub, Andrew

05-07-2003, 11:42 AM

Of course you can always subscribe to Maxim. I'm not sure how much it depends on Newstand sales. Wal-Mart has a frightening amount of clout and, even if you aren't into what they're currently banning, you should probably fear Wal-Mart's fear of pissing off the Religious Right.

XPav

05-07-2003, 12:17 PM

While Walmart isn't a monopoly, they do have something within spitting distance of the term in rural towns. There's small cities all over the American midwest where it's the only place to shop within a 2 hour drive.
So then:

1) Wal-Mart pisses off Religious Right
2) Religious Right boycotts Wal-Mart
3) Religious Right starves to death because there's no other place to shop

So what's the problem here? Viva Maxim!

Chris Nahr

05-07-2003, 12:17 PM

Of course you can always subscribe to Maxim.

But you can only do that if you're aware of the magazine's existence and obtain the subscription address. The Internet makes such issues largely obsolete for people like us but others essentially no longer enjoy (passive) freedom of press once they rely on a quasi-monopolist to supply them with print products.

Bub, Andrew

05-07-2003, 12:24 PM

....but others essentially no longer enjoy (passive) freedom of press once they rely on a quasi-monopolist to supply them with print products.

Um, right. But they've always had "(passive) freedom of the press" in remote places Christoph. If it wasn't Wal-Mart, it would be Mom n' Pop's Feed Store not stocking Maxim. Look, remote rural American's know how to use catalogs and US farmers are more Internet savvy than you'd think.
Not that that makes what Wal-Mart is doing "right" or "wrong", I just hope they're doing it for benign reasons.

They can stop stocking Maxim for all I care. They can even ban music they find offensive. I fear them banning competing products, trying to drive or punish companies they dislike to increase market share. Target is now selling Target branded potato chips. What if Target banned Frito/Lay?

Dave Long

05-07-2003, 12:33 PM

Just as an aside, I don't ever go in a Wal-Mart. How about you guys?

Oh...I found this link on the 8cents a week thing...

http://www.nlcnet.org/report00/walmart.htm

--Dave

Jim F.

05-07-2003, 12:38 PM

As stated in by the "PR guy" at Maxim, only 3% of their newstand sales come from Wal-Mart, so it's not like it's a big deal for them.

Now if Amaco said that they wouldn't be selling Maxim or Stuff in their gas stations anymore, I'm betting you'd see a much bigger reaction from Maxim's spin control office.

But yeah, Wal-Mart does have a lot of control in a lot of sectors. Magazines isn't one of them. Clothing and certain products like dishware or foodstuffs not being carried in Wal-Mart can kill a company (as already stated by earlier folks).

Music, Games, electronics, magazines and books aren't really going to bankrupt anyone if Wal-Mart stops carrying them. Some companies have modified their games or music content to cater to Wal-Mart, but their numbers are small.

When people go shopping for clothes at Wal-Mart, they look at the prices, not the brand name. So if you don't have your clothes in Wal-Mart, you are missing out on the whole Wal-Mart market (since folks will buy someone else's brand instead of leaving Wal-Mart and looking for your products elsewhere). But if someone goes to Wal-Mart looking for Maxim, they are just going to go to one of the million other places to buy it if they don't have a comparable product available.