History Main / SuperSlaveMarket

[[quoteright:328:[[Film/OneHourPhoto http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/one-hour-photo_232.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:326:[-[[StepfordSmiler Check that smile!]]-] ]]

The big box store variation of the crappy [[BurgerFool fast food McJob]] or the low level office job.

The SuperSlaveMarket is filled to brim with merchandise reaching up to the fluorescent light ceiling, annoying consumer crazed customers and of course, dozens of overworked, underpaid disgruntled employees. This is where dreams of a successful career go to die, right into the discount bin.

The NewJobEpisode will often focus on one character working in such an environment (if he doesn't become a BurgerFool) and then subsequently finding out being a grocery store or local [[PredatoryBusiness Wal-Mart]] employee is not as easy as it looks. Alternatively, [[WorkCom the fiction will sometimes focus on those poor souls that have already been working there for years]] (Such as in ''Film/{{Clerks}}'' or ''Film/{{Employee of the Month}}'') and will give the viewer an inside look at life behind the counter.

Either way, as this is TruthInTelevision, working at the SuperSlaveMarket is certainly no fun. Between the obnoxious customers, the horrible music and the tyrannical management, quitting or getting fired is sometimes the only way out.

If the SuperSlaveMarket is making peoples lives miserable outside the store as well, it's a PredatoryBusiness.

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!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/{{Retail}}'' is all about the world of the Super Slave Market. Namely, how much it sucks.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/{{Clerks}}'' was one of the first films to really explore life behind the counter and expose retail life as the godforsaken CrapsackWorld it's always been.
* A more comedic upbeat example is the Super Club store in Dane Cook's ''Film/{{Employee of the Month}}'' where the employees are still very competitive and haven't completely had their spirits crushed. However the in universe rival chain Maxi-Mart plays this trope straighter than straight.
* In the movie ''Film/TheWrestler'', Randy the Ram has a miserable day job at a grocery store, complete with a douche bag boss and terrible customers.
* The main character of ''Film/FunnyPeople'' sees his day job in a supermarket deli as one of these. His co-worker, an ex-convict who feels lucky just to have a shot at an honest living, sees it in a much better light.
* The titular character ''Film/{{Ted}}'' gets a job in one of these places. Though the negative aspects are largely omitted in favor of Ted's WackyFratboyHijinx.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Sam and his friends on ''Series/{{Reaper}}'' spend as much time dealing with the incompetent management and obnoxious customers of The Work Bench as they do chasing down escaped damned souls. It's a toss-up which job is worse.
* Not a huge superstore, but just as soul-numbing to Granville would be Arkwright's little corner store in ''{{Open All Hours}}''.
* Where Eric and Red work for some time in ''Series/That70sShow''.
* Used in one episode of ''Series/{{Leverage}}'', where the team tries to take down a UsefulNotes/WalMart ripoff. One elderly diabetic employee was continually forced to work through his breaks, with predictable consequences. Eliot snaps and nearly beats up his boss, calling him a bully.
* Lois's job at the Lucky Aide drugstore in ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' is portrayed as this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Standup Comedy]]
* JeffDunham's puppet, [[ScrewPolitenessImASenior Walter]], considers getting a job as a Walmart greeter now that he's retired.
-->Welcome to Walmart. GET YOUR SHIT AND GET OUT! [[SarcasmMode ... And have a nice daaaaaayyy.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* 'VideoGame/MinotaurInAChinaShop' has the titular minotaur character trying to fetch breakable china for customers while contesting with clumsy awkward controls. When the minotaur has broken too much merchandise, he goes into an UnstoppableRage.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* One of the main characters of Paul Southworth's ''Webcomic/KrazyLarry'' works at the superstore "Everything But Walnuts", a giant store that carries literally every imaginable product except walnuts, first as a clerk, and later, as their mascot "Nonuts The Ferret". Ironically, he finds this job after quitting his old BurgerFool job. He actually enjoys the mascot part of the job more because even though it involves him standing outside naked with only a censorbar over his crotch and getting pelted with rocks by passing cars, its still better than dealing with the soulcrushing drudgery inside the store.
* ''{{Shortpacked}}'' takes place in one of these - granted, the employees are more a RagtagBunchOfMisfits rather than slaves, but their boss, Galasso, is a case of SmallNameBigEgo personified.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The website ''Website/NotAlwaysRight'' has countless tales from retail workers who live this trope
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Superstore USA from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' certainly qualifies.
** Also from ''Family Guy'', "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story", [[spoiler: Stewie is dismayed to discover his future self is a lowly electronics clerk instead of an EvilOverlord.]]
** One episode had a CutAwayGag involving Vice President Dick Cheney as a Walmart greeter.
-->Go fuck yourself. Go fuck yourself. Go fuck yourself.
* In ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'', Dan tries to get revenge on Gigundo-Mart which literally has everything in bulk.
* Pay Day from ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' is this, especially to Andrea, who swears Daria and Jane to secrecy about her employment.
* Mega-Lo-Mart from ''KingOfTheHill'' qualifies. Filled with incompetent clerks with poor customer service skills. Hank had to work there once due to being laid off from Strickland Propane when Mega-Lo-Mart temporary sells propane and was supervised by incompetent Buckley.
* Wal-Mart ([[YouWannaGetSued sorry,]] [[BlandNameProduct ''Sprawl''-Mart]]) is portrayed this way in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode where Homer gets a job there. There is no chance for advancement, the employee's are locked in at night, Homer has to work overtime without pay (otherwise he would be falsely accused of being an illegal Mexican immigrant, and exported to Mexico) and chips are implanted in their heads. Sadly, except for the chip and the false accusation thing, all of these things have occured at Wal-Mart, although are not true of all their stores. However the employees there freely loot the store at night, even Homer who hijacks a forklift.
[[/folder]]

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* The website ''NotAlwaysRight'' has countless tales from retail workers who live this trope

[[quoteright:328:[[OneHourPhoto http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/one-hour-photo_232.jpg]]]]

!!Examples:

[[folder:Comics]]

* ''{{Clerks}}'' was one of the first films to really explore life behind the counter and expose retail life as the godforsaken CrapsackWorld it's always been.

* In the movie ''TheWrestler'', Randy the Ram has a miserable day job at a grocery store, complete with a douche bag boss and terrible customers.
* The main character of ''FunnyPeople'' sees his day job in a supermarket deli as one of these. His co-worker, an ex-convict who feels lucky just to have a shot at an honest living, sees it in a much better light.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

* Where Eric and Red work for some time in ''That70sShow''.

Either way, as this is TruthInTelevision, working at the SuperSlaveMarket is certainly no fun. Between the customers, the horrible music and the tyrannical management, quitting or getting fired is sometimes the only way out.

* Wal-Mart (sorry, [[BlandNameProduct ''Sprawl'']][[YouWannaGetSued -Mart)]] is portrayed this way in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode where Homer gets a job there. There is no chance for advancement, the employee's are locked in at night, Homer has to work overtime without pay (otherwise he would be falsely accused of being an illegal Mexican immigrant, and exported to Mexico) and chips are implanted in their heads. Sadly, except for the chip and the false accusation thing, all of these things have occured at Wal-Mart, although are not true of all their stores. However the employees there freely loot the store at night, even Homer who hijacks a forklift.

* Wal-Mart (sorry, [[BlandNameProduct ''Sprawl'']][[YouWannaGetSued -Mart) is portrayed this way in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode where Homer gets a job there. There is no chance for advancement, the employee's are locked in at night, Homer has to work overtime without pay (otherwise he would be falsely accused of being an illegal Mexican immigrant, and exported to Mexico) and chips are implanted in their heads. Sadly, except for the chip and the false accusation thing, all of these things have occured at Wal-Mart, although are not true of all their stores. However the employees there freely loot the store at night, even Homer who hijacks a forklift.

* Wal-Mart (sorry, ''Sprawl''-Mart) is portrayed this way in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode where Homer gets a job there. There is no chance for advancement, the employee's are locked in at night, Homer has to work overtime without pay (otherwise he would be falsely accused of being an illegal Mexican immigrant, and exported to Mexico) and chips are implanted in their heads. Sadly, except for the chip and the false accusation thing, all of these things have occured at Wal-Mart, although are not true of all their stores. However the employees there freely loot the store at night, even Homer who hijacks a forklift.

* Lis's job at the Lucky Aide drugstore in ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' is portrayed as this.

* Lis's job at the Lucky Aide drugstore in ''Series?MalcolmInTheMiddle'' is portrayed as this.

The NewJobEpisode will often focus on one character working in such an environment (if he doesn't become a BurgerFool) and then subsequently finding out being a grocery store or local [[PredatoryBusiness Wal-Mart]] employee is not as easy as it looks. Alternatively, [[WorkCom the fiction will sometimes focus on those poor souls that have already been working there for years]] (Such as in ''Film/{{Clerks}}'' or ''Film/{{Employee of the Month}}''') and will give the viewer an inside look at life behind the counter.

* A more comedic upbeat example is the Super Club store in Dane Cook's ''Film/EmployeeOfTheMonth'' where the employees are still very competitive and haven't completely had their spirits crushed. However the in universe rival chain Maxi-Mart plays this trope straighter than straight.

The NewJobEpisode will often focus on one character working in such an environment (if he doesn't become a BurgerFool) and then subsequently finding out being a grocery store or local [[PredatoryBusiness Wal-Mart]] employee is not as easy as it looks. Alternatively, [[WorkCom the fiction will sometimes focus on those poor souls that have already been working there for years]] (Such as in 'Clerks' or 'Employee of the Month') and will give the viewer an inside look at life behind the counter.

* A more comedic upbeat example is the Super Club store in Dane Cook's ''Employee Of The Month'' where the employees are still very competitive and haven't completely had their spirits crushed. However the in universe rival chain Maxi-Mart plays this trope straighter than straight.

* The titular character Film/{{Ted}} gets a job in one of these places. Though the negative aspects are largely omitted in favor of Ted's WackyFratboyHijinx

* Used in one episode of Series/{{Leverage}}, where the team tries to take down a UsefulNotes/WalMart ripoff. One elderly diabetic employee was continually forced to work through his breaks, with predictable consequences. Eliot snaps and nearly beats up his boss, calling him a bully.

* 'Minotaur In A China Shop' has the titular minotaur character trying to fetch breakable china for customers while contesting with clumsy awkward controls. When the minotaur has broken too much merchandise, he goes into an UnstoppableRage.

* One of the main characters of Paul Southworth's '''Krazy Larry''' works at the superstore "Everything But Walnuts", a giant store that carries literally every imaginable product except walnuts, first as a clerk, and later, as their mascot "Nonuts The Ferret". Ironically, he finds this job after quitting his old BurgerFool job. He actually enjoys the mascot part of the job more because even though it involves him standing outside naked with only a censorbar over his crotch and getting pelted with rocks by passing cars, its still better than dealing with the soulcrushing drudgery inside the store.

* The website 'NotAlwaysRight' has countless tales from retail workers who live this trope

* Wal-Mart (sorry, ''Sprawl''-Mart) is portrayed this way in ''TheSimpsons'' episode where Homer gets a job there. There is no chance for advancement, the employee's are locked in at night, Homer has to work overtime without pay (otherwise he would be falsely accused of being an illegal Mexican immigrant, and exported to Mexico) and chips are implanted in their heads. Sadly, except for the chip and the false accusation thing, all of these things have occured at Wal-Mart, although are not true of all their stores. However the employees there freely loot the store at night, even Homer who hijacks a forklift.

** Also from ''Family Guy'', "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story", [[spoiler: Stewie is dismayed to discover his future self is a lowly grocery clerk instead of an EvilOverlord.]]

* Used in one episode of Series/{{Leverage}}, where the team tries to take down a WalMart ripoff. One elderly diabetic employee was continually forced to work through his breaks, with predictable consequences. Eliot snaps and nearly beats up his boss, calling him a bully.

* Wal-Mart (sorry, ''Sprawl''-Mart) is portrayed this way in ''TheSimpsons'' episode where Homer gets a job there. There is no chance for advancement, the employee's are locked in at night, Homer has to work overtime without pay (otherwise he would be falsly accused of being an illegal Mexican immigrant, and exported to Mexico) and chips are implanted in their heads. Sadly, except for the chip and the false accusation thing, all of these things have occured at Wal-Mart, although are not true of all their stores. However the employees there freely loot the store at night, even Homer who hijacks a forklift.

* Wal-Mart (sorry, ''Sprawl''-Mart) is portrayed this way in ''TheSimpsons'' episode where Homer gets a job there. There is no chance for advancement, the employee's are locked in at night, Homer has to work overtime without pay (otherwise he would be falsly accused of being an illegal Mexican immigrant, and exported to Mexico) and chips are implanted in their heads. Sadly, except for the chip and the false accusation thing, all of these things have occured at Wal-Mart, although are not true of all their stores.