Wal-Mart punk product   

     Punk Product™, Wal-Mart, Ellsworth, Maine near Bar Harbor.

     Myra and I were at Wal-Mart shopping for camping supplies, when this item caught my eye from afar. I thought, “wow, is Wal-Mart selling Exploited or GBH t-shirts or something?” Though a lot of punk bands of that ilk—and punk in general—had been fairly commercialized already as early as 20 or so years before, in my book, finding band t-shirts like that available at Wal-Mart would have been a milestone in the history of co-opted subculture. As I approached this garment, however, it became clear that this was an even more profound milestone—this product is brilliant. There is no band, only an allusion to punk and garage bands in general. The aesthetic of an entire 70s/80s subculture is condensed into a wholly generic consumer product (made by slaves in Malaysia or something) and sold by arguably one of the most evil corporations in the world ... Sadly Amazing. I kinda wish I'd bought it, but these days it seems like digital archiving will suffice, rather than collecting actual junk that fills my living space.

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