A New York woman had a difficult time getting baby formula at her local Walmart. That’s because pretty much every case was locked up, and zero employees came to help her after an extended period.
In a video with over 2.2 million views, Courtney (@ceebrezz) showed why she “nearly lost her [expletive]” while waiting for a Walmart employee.
In the video’s caption, the poster shared, “I walked away after 15 minutes of waiting and asking people for help.”
Why is baby formula being locked up?
This isn’t the first time a customer has complained, and it certainly won’t be the last. A story posted by The Mary Sue in August covered the same issue. C0ntent creator @@therealnaimarasool couldn’t access the products she needed.
Walmart has apparently increased its anti-theft policies in 2025 in an apparent “war on shoplifting.” It’s led customers to notice some drastic changes to their local spot. Some stores quickly abandoned these methods; they took longer and forced employees’ attention to focus on customers instead of shelves. But not every store adopted the approach of ignoring corporate’s insight. For many cosmetic items, household goods, and yes, even baby formula, you had to seek out an employee for assistance.
Target and other companies have also adopted this approach. These big chain companies lock up particular items depending on the theft rate at that location. Usually, a location will get anti-theft cases for whatever items show up in inventory checks the least.
Many people have pointed out that it’s an unfair practice. It negatively affects the consumer, but Walmart hasn’t budged on this practice.
Others echoed the fact that the anti-theft cases made them feel watched and less likely to make a purchase. While Walmart and other retailers haven’t done any specific cost-benefit analysis for their anti-theft practices that’s readily available to the public, they’ve generally made consumers unhappy.
@ceebrezz I walked away after 15 minutes of waiting and asking people for help #makesmerage #babyformula #walmartlockingproducts #fyp #momtok @Walmart ♬ female rage – bel6va
A dystopian landscape
A big sentiment commenters shared was that it was dystopian to even lock up baby formula in the first place.
One person wrote, “If stealing formula is big enough of an issue that it needs to be locked up, there’s a bigger problem to address.”
Another added, “People [are just] stealing… baby formula… for their babies, man this is actually dystopic. Food should be free.”
Despite many people’s thoughts, complaints, and general discomfort at Walmart’s policies, it appears that many stores will continue locking their baby formula behind cases. It might be an indefinite practice.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Courtney via TikTok direct message and Walmart’s press team via email.
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