The family of Jdimytai Damour, the Wal-Mart worker who was trampled to death at a Long Island store by a Black Friday mob hungry for discounts at any cost, has filed a lawsuit holding the company responsible for his death. And they're not just blaming the store's lack of security that morning; they're blaming Wal-Mart's ad campaign for turning sedate Long Islanders into a callous capitalist stampede of death:

A complaint filed today in New York State Supreme Court in the Bronx on behalf of survivors of the fallen worker, Jdimytai Damour, claims that besides failing to provide adequate security, Wal-Mart "engaged in specific marketing and advertising techniques to specifically attract a large crowd and create an environment of frenzy and mayhem," according to published reports.

Wal-Mart's ad agency would consider that an honor! At least one of those frenzy-inducing ads was still running well after Damour's death. When framed as a cold, calculating, malicious act by Wal-Mart, the charge may sound borderline ludicrous, like something a lawyer throws in just in case; but Ad Age points out that there's been a longtime campaign to try to get stores to stock adequate merchandise on Black Friday, so shoppers don't feel the need to trample each other to get those few super-cheap TVs in the back of the store. That's not a bad idea at all. [Ad Age; pic via]