It's called capitalism, baby.

First, great value cookies rarely taste as good as name brand.

Second, the reason girl scout cookies "work" is because they're only available at certain times of the year. If they were available year-round (like the great value ones will), the novelty of it would wear off quickly.

Third, unless they stole the recipe, they really didn't do anything wrong. Do Girl Scouts have the patent on mint chocolate cookies?

All of the cookies that the Girl Scouts sell are available in some form or other elsewhere. And I don't care what anybody says--Girl Scout cookies taste awful! I never understood why people claimed to be so crazy about them. Homemake any Girl Scout cookie and you'll never look back.
I think, if anything, it encourages the Girl Scouts to get a little creative in their fundraising. I'm so sick of being hit up to buy stuff! Pity the Girl Scouts aren't actually required to bake the cookies they sell... now there's a concept!

i'm not surprised that they are doing this - and to be honest, the girl scouts should have seen it coming. i figure that in the age when being unique comes and goes and being able to sell to the masses is appealing - well Wal Mart is just doing what they need to do. i figure that if the cookies are available all year round - then people can enjoy them a bit more often. maybe the GS's should have thought about working with a mass marketer to sell the cookies - even though it doesn't help the individual girls raise money for fund raising or whatever - it would still bring revenue to the organization.

This is the nature of business. I see absolutely nothing wrong with it. While I was a girl scout, and appreciated my time, get your profits from other things if you must. I know selling cookies is a staple...but it's not like I have not seen Girl Scout-esque cookies in stores before. The people who really love them will buy them anyway. The people who care about the organization will still buy from you.

I like the idea of home-making your stuff. Why not put out a cook book in your community, put together with recipes from the mothers of girl scouts, or even just random people who want to contribute? We did this when I was a girl scout, and we sold thousands. Be creative.

Personally, I hope they do stop with the girl scout cookies. These schools and programs and "fund raisers" bombard my office from the day school starts and it never stops. When I was a kid, if you were a girl scout, you went door to door and sold your cookies or your school fundraisers. Now, it's hand them to the parents so what is the lesson here? It's not what it's original concept was supposed to be. AND YES...there were perverts then too. We were just taught to go within our neighborhood to those we knew. Same with trick or treating.

I love Tagalongs more than almost any other cookie, but I also love that I can only buy them once a year... otherwise my waistline would definitely increase in size! I am rarely in Walmart and if I am I can guarantee you its not to buy their cookies, so I will definitely still buy them from girl scouts.

And I have never been "bombarded" by these kids. Really they either sit outside of a supermarket, or I see a stapled copy of the order form on the office (and a few years ago, college) walls. If I want cookies, I sign it! Otherwise I move along. Let the girl scouts do their thing. I know a lot of people who would be sad to see the GS cookie sales end.

As far as homemade cookies go, I'd rather try something new and exciting that I don't know I can buy already, but that's just me!

Seriously, where do Girl Scouts "bombard" people? There might be an over zealous parent once in a while in the office, but usually I see Girl Scouts outside of Trader Joes or in front of the train stations. Personally, I think door to door is a terrible idea. Just because that's the way it was done in the old days doesn't automatically make it better. I don't want to be bothered when I'm at home. I'd rather buy cookies when I'm already out buying stuff.

Walmart is trying to change it's image and be a good corporate citizen, but this isn't helping matters. But the bottom line (and that's all that really matters) is that people who want to support the Girl Scouts will continue to do so, no matter where similar cookies are sold.

Amen Sy!

My take:

It's cookies people. Get over it.

We don't really buy girl scout cookies because they're amazing. We buy them to show support to the girl scouts.

People who enjoy supporting the girl scouts will continue to.

if they are cheaper than the girl scouts version I am there. I have thought for a long time that the GS need to get another schtick. the cookie thing is old.

Having been a girl scout for quite a bit of my youth, i can tell you:
they do have other forms of fundraising.

unfortunately, with the other forms (selling candy bars, for example), a troop leader needs to commit to buy X-amount of boxes of the product, and if the girls don't sell ALL of it, their troop can potentially lose money. the cookies are simpler, as every troop is provided order forms, and cookies are delivered based upon numbers ordered. there's no initial investment required for the troop.

and i liked girl scout cookies, but since they switched bakers, i don't care for them any more. it's disappointing, as i haven't found a substitute for tagalongs that i've liked yet.

(and, of course, the girls can't bake the cookies themselves due to food safety regulations and child labour laws. selling cookies fits more into "business sense" badges, not culinary ones.)
as for wal-mart? their predatory, sure, but isn't that old news by now? i don't shop at wal-mart because i dislike their ethics. end of story.

While I'd probably buy the Good Value cookies if they were tasty, I'll still buy cookies from the Girl Scouts when they're selling them.

they're* d'oi.

It's pretty messed up that they would take that away from the girl scouts. This just reconfirms my hatred for Wal-Mart and why I won't shop there.

Well it's a typical Wal Mart move, but honestly, Girl Scout cookies have such a huge following, people are constantly attempting to re-create knock offs all the time....this is nothing new. Step up your game Girl Scouts! I agree with one of the previous posters....a Girl Scout cookbook would be a neat fund raiser idea. Nowadays, it's pretty simple to go online and put together a book to sell.
Besides, being that they are only available at a certain time during the year...they will always have that allure.

I really hope the average American buying Girl Scout cookies realizes they're a not-for-profit organization and aren't just getting the cookies for cookies sake but doing it to donate as well. And I'm a little confused how one can feel "bombarded" in public and at work by Girl Scouts but would much rather be bothered at home, door-to-door. What?

Anyway, the move doesn't surprise me. At least Wal-Mart still allows Salvation Army bell ringers outside their doors, unlike Target. Big box stores don't seem to have a heart.

Oh Lord, the next thing you know, Oreo is gonna get mad because there are store brand Oreos out there. It's the nature of the beast people. Get over it!

other companies offer girl scout cookie lookalikes but nobody ever has a problem with the keebler company.

Seriously, what about Grasshoppers? The Keebler version of a thin mint. They've been around for a really long time. I don't know that I've necessarily seen other exact matches for the other cookies, but I was never a big GC cookie buyer anyway.

It's not like Walmart is really known for ethical business practices. Their goal is to make money, not improve communities.

I really don't buy girl scout cookies for the cookies, anyway. I buy them because a little girl is making sad puppy eyes at me from my front porch. And I bet a lot of people feel the same way.

The girl scouts are a great organization! They've done fundraisers for planned parenthood (another org. I adore). I was a girlscout and i don't buy for the cookies, I buy because I like the ideals. Although, the samoas are a guilty pleasure of mine.

I'm sorry but I don't want to hear it, and I was a Girl Scout.

Every type of Girl Scout cookie is available by some other brand, most notably Kebler. As a matter of fact, those elves have a pretty perfect version of Thin Mints known as "Grasshoppers" that cost about a buck fifty less than the girl scout version and which I cheerfully stock up on whenever I get the craving.

And tagalongs? Well there have been generic version of chocolate dunked peanut-butter filled cookies for years. WalMart's just jumpin' on the bandwagon.

People will support the Girl Scouts because they want to support a good cause, not because of the cookies.

As a matter of fact, my family walked into WalMart once and noted the Girl Scouts outside, and instead of making our usual cookie purchases for about half the cost, we instead hit up the GS's on the way out and bought ten boxes of cookies.

Did we normally buy ten boxes of cookies? Heck no. Would we ever do that in Wal Mart in one sitting like that? Hell no.

Would we do it to support Girl Scouts? You betcha.

I feel bad for the girl scouts, but at the same time they should modernize their approach to selling. Girls aren't allowed to have online ordering and have been penalized when caught hawking cookies on the internet. A system like Mary Kay has would help bring some fairness to the system--either you have your GS "rep" or you plug in your zip and you find out the closest one to you. My friends and I jump at the chance to load up on cookies whenever we run into people with kids that age--contrary to bombardment, I feel like my age group is in a GS desert.

The GSA needs a new business model. The old way of door-to-door sales is too frightening in today's world. I'm with the others whe mentioned the Girls actually earning a merit badge by doing some actual baking! Back in the olden days we didn't have fancy-pants camps we had to earn money to attend. We'd camp in the Scout Leader's backyard. It's all about the buck these days, and the Scouts are no different than Wal-mart (except that WM constantly makes changes).

I don't often buy Girl Scout cookies. (For every area that is "bombarded", another is neglected.) So the flavors of cookies made by WalMart, Keebler, etc. won't have any negative impact as far as my money is concerned. It will give me more buying options, however.

I think Girl Scout cookies are nasty...all of them. And if Walmart cost is cheaper then of course people will pay the cheaper price, even if they won't admit to buying Walmart brand.

I found a box of these delicious "Great Value" peanut butter Tagalong knockoffs in a Florida Wal-Mart about a month and a half ago and indeed, they were a "great value." I think they were something ridiculous like $1.34. I went back a week later looking for them - and they were nowhere to be found. Not even a tag on an empty shelf. Another week later they were back and the price had jumped up to around $2.50. Hell, that's still cheaper than what the Girl Scouts charge. I don't have any friends with Girl Scout-age friends right now so thankfully I'm not pressured into blowing $5 a box for their mediocre cookies. I'll buy mine at Wal-Mart, even if I have to walk past a card table of Girl Scouts out front to do it!

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