Ethnic Scrappy: Oh, where do we even start from here? Everyone with their negative stereotypes, from the Italians to the Cubans. Furthermore, it had restarted the equally Ethnic Scrappy-worthy trope, Joisey.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Popular Oop North, particularly in Liverpool, where Jenni "JWoww" Farley (and, to a lesser extent, Snooki) has a cult following, especially in Bootle.
Hollywood Pudgy: Snooki is not thin by any means, but despite rather generous padding, she can still look pretty good in a skimpy one-piece.
Lowest Common Denominator: As with the majority of MTV's reality programs, many of the show's detractors accused this show of practically everything wrong with teenage and young-adult society in general.
Memetic Mutation: Most of the (cringe-inducing) frat-boy slang and antics has been repeatedly been quoted and mocked on the internet and on parodies in pop-culture.
Moral Event Horizon: Vinny seduces The Situation's sister just to get back at him. Right in front of him.
When the housemates go to Atlantic City, Snooki calls out Mike on his behavior as of the past few episodes during dinner and ends the conversation by asking someone for a roll. Mike chimes in with "Don't worry, you got a couple." No one laughs. It doesn't help that minutes later we learn Snooki had an eating disorder in high school that she only recently came to terms with.
Ronnie stealing Vinny's flowers, dropping a few bucks on Vinny's bed, and giving them to Sammi while trying to pass them off as his own. This after Vinny had been stood up by the girl he bought the flowers for.
We can safely say the casts' behavior in Angelina's farewell episode irked a part of the fandom deeply. It got her a decent fanbase and support, at least.
Ronnie's abusive behavior towards Sammi. We saw hints of it on season 1, but on season 2 it was blatant.
Not sure if it counts, but the guidos in question are quite proud of their label.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (who is half-Italian) not only asked them all to go home but has refused to give the (insanely rich) producers and executives of the show any tax breaks, something that Republicans generally believe the top one percent of wealthy Americans are entitled to. He hates the show that much.
The Situation made $5 million in 2010 because of his show contract and spokesman work for a snake oil bulking powder.
He has also been paid to stop wearing Abercrombie and Fitch clothes, so he's doing pretty well.
Would you have even known about this show if there weren't so many people trashing it and saying how terrible it was?
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: As of episode three of Season Two, it's safe to say Angelina is more likable than she was previously (still a bitch though), but it doesn't matter because she's not coming back for season three.
Romantic Plot Tumor: Even the cast had problems with Sammi and Ronnie's "relationship" in the first two seasons. It took valuable time away from other stupid things.
At least in Season One, where her inability to get along with her housemates and attitude towards her job at the Shore Store results in her eviction from the home and subsequently the rest of the show. Her return in Season Two revealed she hadn't changed much since leaving Season One, but has become more likable after apologizing to JWoww and Snooki in the third episode for off-screen shit-talking. The apology seems to have gone over well, as Angelina can be seen hanging out with the girls in the fourth episode.
And it certainly helps that Sammi's Season Two Wallbanger ways of handling her "relationship" with Ronnie have turned her into The Scrappy of Season Two.
So Bad, It's Good: While it may not be the most critically acclaimed show, and did receive a fair amount of criticism at the time for it's poor portrayal of Italian-Americans, most of this toned down as the show became more popular, and people just began to see the show for what it was: fun, entertaining and silly.
Strawman Has a Point: In Angelina's episode in season 2 (in which she is Put on a Bus), she makes sure to call everyone out on how they're stupid, fake freaks of nature. The characters just ride it off.
, the series has garner absurdly high ratings for MTV and being the #1 show on basic cable at the time because of this very reason.