In previous eras of internet culture, mockery of the rich and famous was usually relegated to far-left forums. But as 2025 begins, ridiculing the rich appears to have gone mainstream.

Nicknaming it the “Wirkin” bag – a portmanteau of “Walmart” and “Birkin” that also evokes “working class” – TikTok users have championed the bag as a symbol of working- and middle-class solidarity. Sociologists use the concept of “ symbolic interactionism ” to describe how people deploy symbols to understand and communicate social realities.

An inexpensive knockoff of the Birkin bag, an exclusive, extremely sought-after leather handbag by luxury brand Hermès that can sell for more than $400,000 US has launched a rousing debate online about fashion accessibility and copycat ethics.

Budget-conscious buyers looking for luxury alternatives have flocked to Walmart’s Birkin bag look-alike, nicknamed the “Wirkin.”

Walmart has the fashion world talking due to some new merchandise. Lisa Kudrow revealed during an interview on “The Drew Barrymore Show” (via People) that she recently discovered a note the late Matthew Perry left for her inside the “Friends” cookie jar,