Wrestling With Your Conscience

Wal-Mart wants to avoid controversy on its shelves, but consumers won't let it

Walk into most any Wal-Mart in the U.S. and here are a few of the things you can buy: condoms, birth control pills, hunting rifles, "Western" style toy guns, the movie There's Something About Mary, the National Enquirer, cigarettes, the video game South Park, the hard-rocking Powerman 5000's hit Tonight the Stars Revolt. And here are a few of the things you can't buy: a "day-after" birth control kit, handguns, authentic-looking plastic guns, Playboy, rolling papers, the movie South Park, the video game Grand Theft Auto and any number of rap CDs.

Inconsistent? Absolutely, and deliberately so. "We're a family store,"...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!