Wal-Mart Will Defend Reputation in Ads

[Omaha Steve]

http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt_top.jsp?news_id=ap-d8mgkc200&



Wal-Mart Will Defend Reputation in Ads

Sunday January 7, 2:11 PM EST

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will run national television ads starting Monday praising its record as an employer and corporate citizen, taking its arguments straight to the public in an ongoing battle over its reputation with unions and other critics.

The world's largest retailer, increasingly a lightening rod for politicians as well as labor unions and other activists, cites the legacy of late founder Sam Walton in a folksy 60-second ad. A 30-second ad focuses on Wal-Mart's health insurance plans for its more than 1.3 million U.S. employees.

"It all began with a big dream in a small town, Sam Walton's dream," a narrator says as one ad starts with a black-and-white photo of Sam Walton and a grainy shot of Walton's first five-and-dime store in what is now the chain's headquarters town of Bentonville, Ark.

"Sam's dream. Your neighborhood Wal-Mart," the ad ends.

FULL story at link.

If they treated workers and shoppers better, they wouldn't have to do this!

[Fierce]

1. Y'know what? Bring it.

Sam Walton's dream has been destroyed by the company he created. He WAS all about being a responsible corporate citizen -- and selling things made in the USA. Things the company clearly knows nothing about.

[Deja Q]

5. Seconded. I doubt it'll help them at all.

Especially when they want to pay workers piss poor and then do this shift rotating garbage that makes getting a second job, necessary as that really is these days, just about impossible.

And not all walmart workers are dumb hicks either. Some are genuinely thrown into a bad situation and need money, even if it's a pittance. :(

[Zhade]

32. No, it wasn't. Walton himself was so anti-union, he threatened to shut down any store...

...that wanted to unionize.

Walton was NOT a good person.

[guruoo]

33. But he didn't treat Walmart employees the way they're treated now

[Fierce]

36. He was anti-union,

but he -- like many anti-union biz owners -- treated his employees well enough that they didn't want/need one.

Many owners would rather pay their employees fairly well than risk a union coming in and getting more. Funny that, eh?

[VegasWolf]

2. err, what reputation? Nefarious is the word. nt

[Mist]

3. They won't pay a decent salary or health insurance, but spending

enormous amounts of money on PR is okay...

[pitohui]

4. i suggest defending one's reputation by paying a fair wage and giving a fair schedule

nobody cares what they say in an ad if they see walmart workers in their neighborhood using food stamps or other public resources instead of getting enough paid hours on their job

[Deja Q]

7. Quite. Repubs whine and bitch about "the welfare society". Well, guess what they are creating?

It boggles the mind. :crazy:

[OhioChick]

6. "Sam's dream. Your neighborhood Wal-Mart," the ad ends."

:puke:

Sam is rolling over in his grave.

[madeline_con]

8. How will they explain the lack of benefits, hiring illegals...

sucky service, etc? How DOES one explain all that away?

Edited to add: BTW, everything made in China, what's THAT about?

[tridim]

9. Wal-Mart and the Bush Administration deserve each other

It's never about reality, it's all about marketing an obviously shitty product and calling it gold.

[Bonhomme Richard]

10. Any company that rewards 20 years service with....

a chinese made shirt with the company name on it has a serious screw loose. That company really, really doesn't get it.

[Deja Q]

11. No company wants an employee to be there that long.

Loyalty? That's for boy scouts, the soldiers on the front lines, and toddlers.

20 years means a shitload of money spent on wages and benefits. Can't have that...

[yankeeinlouisiana]

12. Their products have always sucked!

This was back when they still advertised that they sold American products. I bought a few summer clothes for my son and before the summer was over all of the seams were coming apart. That's when I stopped shopping there. Then I found out about all of their other problems.

[TygrBright]

13. How about salvaging its reputation with a simple four-point plan:

1. Pay all employees a living wage and offer them health insurance and retirement benefits on a pro-rata basis, allowing part-time employees to buy in based on their hours worked.

2. Set a target of buying at least 60% of all merchandise stocked from suppliers whose manufacturing facilities are located in America and who purchase at least 50% of their raw materials from American producers. Regularly inform customers and the public of how close they are to meeting that target.

3. Adopt standards for minimizing the environmental impact of their stores and require all suppliers to meet standards for minimizing the environmental impact of their packaging materials and methods.

4. Put half of their marketing, advertising, and PR budgets into a foundation that alleviates the economic impact of their stores on small businesses in the communities where the stores are located, providing no-interest loans, grants, and economic development programs for locally-owned businesses displaced or threatened by the Wallyworld competition.

hahahahahahahahah.... can I write fantasy, or can I write fantasy?!

cynically,
Bright

[sarge43]

18. Tolkien would be envious of your abilities, Bright n/t

[HughBeaumont]

30. Because that plan would cut into the ChinaMart heir's 12-figure unearned fortune.

"Living wage? That's just plain crazy talk! We couldn't pay adequate health care! Think of all the profit we'd be losing. People, who's going to look after the decision makers? I mean, my yacht is 6 years OLD, for Christ's sake! You think I want that fat bastard Lee Raymond seeing me at St Bart's in THAT thing?"

"And this crap about local businesses? Oh gee PARDON the shit out of me if you'd rather make 300 trips when you can get it all in one store. PLEASE don't tell me you still believe in this 'monopolies kill cities' crap. They're the ants and we're the magnifying glass and that's all there is to it. Darwinist capitalism is beautiful - for the RULING class! AHHHH HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAA! Now get the hell out of my way. You smell poor, I'm not catching what you have and there's a $200 Filet Mignon with my name on it."

[guruoo]

34. It would cost them appx 1% of their profit to do it

Out of $20,000 a minute, after expenses, according to NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/27/business/yourmoney/27count.html?oref=login

[tularetom]

14. Walton hated unions

I'm not sure that the current wally world business plan is that much at odds with the way he operated. He despised unions and paid his people crappy wages. He undercut local merchants to drive them out of business then raised prices when the competition was gone. No matter how much they try to make him seem like a simple minded good ol boy the only thing wally world is doing now that he didn't do is have everything made in China.

[Fierce]

19. He hated unions, but he treated his workers well enough

that they didn't feel the need to organize. At first.

[eppur_se_muova]

15. I've noticed over the last several months I *always* see protestors outside of

Wal-Mart, usually wearing the store uniform, or a convincing imitation.

[sarge43]

16. Defending its reputation?

That's the equivalent of Smirky defending his war policy.

[SharonAnn]

25. It's indefensible. Like *'s Iraq occupation philosophy.

[MN ChimpH8R]

17. You cannot polish a turd n/t

[GenDem]

20. From a paper my daughter wrote in High School -

I don't have a website for the source --it may have been deleted but here is some info on the costs to a community in government benefits for an average Wal-Mart super store.



-One 200-employee Wal-Mart store may cost federal taxpayers $420,750 per year. This cost comes from the following, on average:
$36,000 a year for free and reduced lunches for just 50 qualifying Wal-Mart families.
$42,000 a year for low-income housing assistance.
$125,000 a year for federal tax credits and deductions for low-income families.
$100,000 a year for the additional expenses for programs for students.
$108,000 a year for the additional federal health care costs of moving into state children's health insurance programs (S-CHIP)
$9,750 a year for the additional costs for low income energy assistance.
THE HIDDEN PRICE WE ALL PAY FOR WAL-MART, A REPORT BY THE DEMOCRATIC STAFF OF THE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND THE WORKFORCE, 2/16/04

[Omaha Steve]

28. Here it is....

http://www.aflcio.org/corporatewatch/walmart/walmart_1.cfm

[GenDem]

29. There are rumblings in our town of 7000

that Wal-mart has it's sights on a plot of land outside of our village. There is already a couple of super Wal-marts and a smaller store all within 12 miles going in any direction. What ever retail we have left will be gone if this happens. Wal-mart is like vultures -- they come in and strip an area clean...what's left in it's wake is a devastated work force and a boarded up main street. The sad part is any manufacturing jobs we used to have are long gone, and our town government is so desperate for tax relief that they will be welcomed in with open arms.

[tabasco]

21. Sure, defend stepping on the necks of working people.

Good luck with that. :crazy:

[Speck Tater]

22. Support Communism. Buy Chinese products at Wally World (nt)

[Release The Hounds]

23. How can they call themselves a "neighborhood" Wal-Mart

Everyone I've seen is sprawled out along a highway.

[Gin]

24. I hope the new "staffing" program bites them in the ass big time....the

story was in the Va Pilot paper today.....they are really being blatant with this program...the bottom line is THE most important thing to Walmart....Bastards!

[WCGreen]

26. Walmarts health insurance....

Medicade....

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

27. WallyWorld always reminds me of Milo's mart in Catch-22

Always stealing from Peter to pay Paul (so to speak).

When WallyWorld has one of their so-called price rollbacks, you're not supposed to notice that while some prices do indeed go down, the prices of other items increase. Smoke and mirrors.

Sounds just a little familiar, eh?

[depakid]

31. All this will do is draw more attention to the issues

Go for it, Walmart!

It'll provide all that much more ammunition for us the next time you try to site one of your exploitation centers in our community.

[hatrack]

35. Sam Walton has been dead a long time - time to stop dining out on his rep, guys.

In the meantime, stop spending millions on ad campaigns, and try spending it on, I don't know, maybe subsidizing health care for your employees. You're just the #1 employer in America, that's all . . .

Maybe they could hire Karen Hughes to buff their image, too. She's done such a great job in the Middle East, doncha know? :eyes:

[Shadowdancer]

37. I worked for the evil empire for 11 years

I was working in an accounting office when they decided to scale down all office and dept. head jobs. I made a $12hr when I lost my job. I was transfered to the garden center where I was expected to load peoples cars with heavy items (potting soil, multch, bricks ...). I'm almost 50 years old, female and have health issues. I was not able to do the work. I was than given the option of quiting or being terminated without the option to rehire. I should have let them fire me. I can go back now at $6.50hr ... maybe.

I thought I had a job for life. But there is no such thing as job security anymore is there?

Walmart is leading the way, but it's not the only abusive company out there.

I hope with new leadership now and in 2008 things with improve for the working class.

[mac56]

38. Welcome, Shadowdancer

Sorry to hear of your treatment at Wal-Mart.