People of Walmart, we can't get enough of you

Google Walmart people and you get a standard link to a sparsely filled Wikipedia page of notable names associated with Wal-Mart (Waltons being the most notable). • Google People of Walmart and you get a link to what's either the funniest thing you and your office mates have ever become addicted to — or a mean-spirited blog whose writers should be ashamed of themselves. • We'll let you be the judge. We just thought since we've seen the site's explosive popularity from its small beginnings in late August, we'd bring you up to speed on the latest Internet sensation. — Anne Glover, Times staff writer

THE PREMISE: peopleofwalmart.com is the simplest of blogs: Show snapshots that have been e-mailed in of the odd, the freakish and the seriously misguided denizens — including at least two goats, a clown, a Capt. America and a Tony the Tiger — who frequent Wal-Marts across America. Throw in snarky captions. Let people comment on the photos. Maintain strict standards for what is a post-worthy mullet and what is merely a garden-variety mullet.

WHO'S RESPONSIBLE? ABC News.com says Andrew Kipple, 23, founded the site with his brother Adam Kipple, 25, and their friend Luke Wherry, 23. The three, from Indiana, visited a South Carolina branch in August. "We turned a corner to see a stripper — at least, I think she was a stripper — with a shirt that read 'Go F--- Yourself,' and she had a 2-year-old kid in one of those child harnesses that looked like a dog leash," Adam told Yahoo.com News. After a batch of photos appeared around Aug. 26, the site was linked from popular blog the Daily What and other sites. Thousands of Facebook and Twitter links later, it's still a runaway viral hit on the Web with no signs of slowing down. (A peopleofwal mart Facebook post Friday around noon said "Over 3.5 million hits yesterday!! Keep checking us out, new pics get posted all the time! Thanks again.")

IN THEIR DEFENSE: The site's "about us" page spells out what's fair game from Wal-Mart: This is purely for entertainment purposes and strictly limited to the outrageously bad / ugly / creepy / crazy shoppers. … There is no reason to send us pictures of people that are seriously and unfortunately handicapped so don't be an a--hole. Adam Kipple also told ABCNews.com, "I'm not making us out to be saints. We may be poking fun at people but we like to draw a line where a normal person would draw a line."

NOT EVERYONE AGREES: "American culture likes to single out people who appear to be different," Tim Marema, vice president of the Center for Rural Strategies in Whitesburg, Ky., told CNN.com. "Whether it's a joke or not all depends on which side of the camera you're on." And many sites, from Gawker.com to Huffington Post have weighed in. Consensus: Hilarious, but sometimes needlessly cruel, especially in the comments area.

WHAT DOES Wal-Mart THINK? Several news stories we checked on the Web said Wal-Mart refused to comment on the site. No surprise there. In a terrible bit of bad timing, the search term "people of Walmart" also turns up a story about a guy in a Georgia Wal-Mart who slapped a stranger's 2-year-old when he wouldn't stop crying. Ouch.