# Wal-Mart Targets the Girl Scouts! (mild) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 23, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143 "2010-02-23T17:48:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/41 "2010-02-23T21:08:43Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Oh, and I have about a thousand boxes, including about 300 Thin Mints, in my living / dining room right now. Get your guest room ready, then. I prefer foam pillows, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/42 "2010-02-23T21:09:21Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Are you kidding? Thin Mints are like crack. I’d beat up a Girl Scout for a box of those things. As we speak, I am devising a method for mainlining them. Nasty, horrible crack. Unlike most crack, which is delicious. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/43 "2010-02-23T21:21:14Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > No one’s craving the taste of crumbling, nasty, minty cookies Actually, out of nowhere, I am this year. I was never in the Scouts myself, but we always knew lots of other families who were, so my mom always loaded up on Girl Scout cookies when I was a kid. Most of what we got was Thin Mints, so I ended up totally overdosing on them. You couldn’t even get me to \*look _at a Thin Mint for probably about a decade. But suddenly, this year, when Mom asks me what kind of Girl Scout cookies I want,_ _I want me some motherfucking Thin Mints._ Something tells me it’ll probably end up like cigarettes. Ever since I quit for good, every so often I’ll think, “You know, I could really use a smoke.” So then I have one, and usually within the first couple of drags my attitude is, “Yeah, this wasn’t as awesome as I thought it was going to be,” and I often don’t even finish the cigarette. But for right now, I’m really looking forward to the \*idea \*of a Thin Mint. \*For some reason, she still buys my brother and me each a box or two every year, even though we’re both adults and neither of us has lived at home for years. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/44 "2010-02-23T21:24:01Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Nasty, horrible crack. Unlike most crack, which is delicious. No, no, no. Thin Mints are the filet mignon of cookie world. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/45 "2010-02-23T21:29:12Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Oh, and I have about a thousand boxes, including about 300 Thin Mints, in my living / dining room right now. Eat your heart out! Typo Knig keeps wandering among them, fondling the cases and hissing “My Precioussssssssss!”. I’m the cookie dude for my daughter’s troop. I’m perfect for the job because I’d rather be waterboarded than eat the evil little wafers. $3.25 is too damned much for a fistful of cookies. For that kind of money I can OD on Oreos. Twice. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/46 "2010-02-23T21:33:37Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > No, no, no. Thin Mints are the filet mignon of cookie world. I bet you think Boone’s Farm is the finest vintage this side of the Atlantic, too. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/47 "2010-02-23T21:34:39Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > You couldn’t even get me to \*look _at a Thin Mint for probably about a decade. But suddenly, this year, when Mom asks me what kind of Girl Scout cookies I want,_ _I want me some motherfucking Thin Mints._ Oddly enough, I had the same thing with soda last night. Lords know I haven’t drank soda regularly in something like five years; occasionally some cheap lunch place will give me soda with my meal, so I’ll just drink whatever is there, but as a rule, I do not drink soda as I don’t like the super-sweetness or the carbonation. So last night I have this dream about Pepsi Cola and when I got to work today, all I could think was, “I want some MFing Pepsi!” I can’t even tell you the last time I drank a Pepsi before today. But anyway, yeah, filet mignon of cookies, Wal\*Mart and all of that. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/48 "2010-02-23T21:52:27Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I bet you think Boone’s Farm is the finest vintage this side of the Atlantic, too. Not even when I was 14. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/49 "2010-02-23T22:07:44Z")
At least Sam Walton’s dad isn’t going to make the rounds at my office to guilt us into buying some cookies for his kid. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/50 "2010-02-23T22:18:07Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > No, no, no. Thin Mints are the filet mignon of cookie world. Overpriced and filled with cattle blood? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/51 "2010-02-23T22:30:58Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > By that logic, every hamburger chain is targeting every other hamburger chain. Why can’t they just be in competition for the same market? That’s kind of how America rolls. But wouldn’t one of the hamburger chains’ profits have to go to developing confidence and characters in young girls? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/52 "2010-02-23T22:35:06Z")
> [@Cat\_Fight](#): > > But wouldn’t one of the hamburger chains’ profits have to go to developing confidence and characters in young girls? No, they can do whatever they want to with the money. It’s called capitalism. If the Scouts want to compete in the marketplace they have to take the rough with the smooth. Wait, are you suggesting that Wal-Mart is targeting the Girl Scouts because they want to \*end \*such a program? Or start one of their own? ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/53 "2010-02-24T21:23:52Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > I bet you think Boone’s Farm is the finest vintage this side of the Atlantic, too. Thunderbird, man. Mmm… Thin Mints. I have yet to open any boxes, for fear that the father who tell his kids that they don’t need more than four Oreos at a time will be seen gobbling an entire sleeve. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/54 "2010-02-24T21:32:29Z")
I deal with selling stuff through Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. Some property managers are cool, others go down the zero tolerance of ANYONE being there. Sometimes the store manager controls, other times it is property management. Around here, the local property management company loves Scouting, so we never have issues with shilling. I will say that the Girl Scouts have a superior product to our overpriced popcorn and Scout-O-Rama tickets. I also bought a case of Thin Mints, plus various ancillary boxes being sent to our Troops overseas. Thin Mints are meant to be chilled, and eaten one full sleeve at a time. I can not wait for the next round of delivery. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/55 "2010-02-24T21:38:54Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > If someone made a Big Mac knock-off, I’d say they were targeting McDonald’s, sure. > > Anyway, this is really just semantic nitpicking and I don’t have time to get involved in one of these types of arguments today, so I’ll just say that I see where you’re coming from but still think “targeting” is appropriate in the thread title. 🙂 Technically, the Big Mac is a knockoff of the Big Boy Buger… just sayin’. I buy the cookies to support the Girl Scout organization not for a gastronomical benefit. I am guessing most other people do as well. I think the Girl Scouts will survive, but I do like having another excuse to hate Wally World. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/56 "2010-02-24T21:42:25Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > I have yet to open any boxes, for fear that the father who tell his kids that they don’t need more than four Oreos at a time will be seen gobbling an entire sleeve. Serving size: 1 sleeve Servings per package: 2 ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/57 "2010-02-24T21:46:28Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > …don’t need more than four Oreos at a time … I recognize these words but they make no sense in the order you have used them. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/58 "2010-02-24T21:47:59Z")
The cookies are tasty. They are overpriced but no more so than any other product on the market. I think the anger comes from the fact that these are a product that were designed specifically for fund raising to help an organization that does a lot of good in the world. I;m not fond of the fact that Keebler is knocking off the cookies either. What next, is a billion dollar corporation going to start a neighborhood lawn mowing business to put all the neighborhood 12 year olds out of work during the summer? How about a drive-thru communion window so you can get the body and blood of jesus without all that “sitting through church” hassle? Yes, this is capitalism at work. So was Enron. Not all capitalism is good. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/59 "2010-02-24T21:53:37Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > How about a drive-thru communion window so you can get the body and blood of jesus without all that “sitting through church” hassle? Drive-through single-serving wine? Sign me up! ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143/60 "2010-02-24T21:56:30Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Tagalongs are a close second in terms of crackitude. **Typo Knig** prefers Samoas. We’re a mixed marriage. > > Oh, and I have about a thousand boxes, including about 300 Thin Mints, in my living / dining room right now. Eat your heart out! Typo Knig keeps wandering among them, fondling the cases and hissing “My Precioussssssssss!”. 550 in my basement yesterday, but I have a small troop - only five girls and two of them are sisters which limits the number of grandmas and aunts that can be hit up. Girl Scout cookies are pretty expensive. But from a 3.50 box, our troop gets .55 cents. Which will be enough to take the girls to a weekend camp thanks to the fact that Girl Scouts gets $2 a box to support their organizational structure - including their camp facilities. I think out of my five girls, four of them will register for summer camp - three of them at the rate subsidized by the cookies (the fourth is my daughter, who will pay the full camp rate) - our troop gets pretty good value out of our cookie sales. So that leave a buck a box for the contents, packaging, etc. As a charitable contribution, it has a pretty good “get dollars to girls” rate. And while I no longer eat wheat, I think the cookies are pretty good. The new cookie - which is stupidly named “Thank You Berry Much” is a crisp cookie with dried cranberries that is really good (and for me, intestinal distress inducing). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wal-mart-targets-the-girl-scouts-mild/530143.md?page=4)