Alex Pearlman took aim at Walmart’s practice of locking up condoms, saying the chain “locking up the condoms and vibrators in the pharmacy section and forcing customers press the call for help button is eugenics.” That’s Pearlman’s characterization of the practice.
At some Walmart stores, buying condoms means asking an employee to retrieve them from a locked case. Walmart has cited theft as the reason for securing these products.
In Fargo and Grand Forks in February 2020, locked condoms and lubricants prompted shopper Dave Kary to describe the extra step as embarrassing for customers and employees alike.
Whether customers have to ask for help has depended on the store. In May 2018, Walmart spokeswoman Tara Aston said the company didn’t have a corporate policy requiring condoms to be locked up; stores made that decision based on which products were frequently stolen.
Reporting that month found condoms behind a lock at 1 Clovis Walmart and on open shelves at another.
The inconvenience predates Pearlman’s criticism by decades. In February 1997, a Carbondale Walmart kept contraceptives and pregnancy tests locked up, with company representative Sharon Weber citing theft at that location.
Within days, the store changed how employees retrieved the products because the routine inconvenienced staff.