More on Artists Going Corporate
Rapper and multi-talented entertainer Percy Miller (better known as “Master P”) has announced that he and his son Romeo will rerelease their clothing line, P. Miller Designs, exclusively through Wal-Mart. The move comes years after the line had previously been released through the department stores Mervyn’s and Kohl’s, and serves as the latest example of a previously anti-establishment music act going completely corporate.
Given Master P’s impressive track-record of community involvement, not to mention his work with the NAACP, one would hope that he would be critical enough of Wal-Mart’s disproportionate effect on and discrimination against members of his own community that he would be unwilling to sign repeated exclusive deals with them. With the launch of his new record label “Take A Stand” well underway, we hope that Master P won’t continue to fall to the fantastical rhymes of the world’s largest retailer.
Reuters has the story: Wal-Mart finds rappers Master P, Romeo a fashion fit
Master P and his son, fellow hip-hop hit-maker Romeo, have agreed to relaunch their P. Miller Designs apparel line exclusively through Wal-Mart, Billboard has learned.
The father-son duo’s brand of men’s apparel will be available at about 350 Wal-Mart stores starting in July and will include graphic T-shirts, fleece hoodies and fashion denims. The P. Miller line was last available at such retailers as Kohl’s and Mervyns “a few years ago,” Master P (aka Percy Miller) said.
The veteran rapper said that Wal-Mart was a logical vendor for P. Miller Designs, which he described as “high fashion at an affordable cost.” Master P said he has shifted most responsibilities for the clothing line to 18-year-old Romeo.
“Wal-Mart stands for everything P. Miller does,” he said. “It’s America and diversity. Our whole thing is price point. I want to put out affordable clothes where the masses can buy them.”
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Posted by Joel Nezianya on Monday, June 30, 2008 | 3 comments | Permalink
A New Logo Won’t Solve Wal-Mart’s Image Problems
Wal-Mart needs a new image - bad. The retailer’s latest attempt to upgrade its image isn’t just about being hip - it’s about trying to avoid its bad reputation for unethical business practices.
Just last week a Harris poll showed Wal-Mart’s reputation has been dropping fast. Wal-Mart’s continuing use of sweatshop labor and poor employment practices have undoubtedly harmed it here, as the study also showed these issues top consumers’ concerns. Additional cries of discrimination against women, damage to communities and local economies, unsustainable expansion practices, and unethical business and political dealings all draw an even more grim picture of the company. The company’s practices have earned it a place in the Worst Company in America contest, as well as Corporate Accountability’s Corporate Hall of Shame.
Unfortunately, a new logo won’t solve any of these issues. Wal-Mart might try to prove it’s changed by adopting a new logo and a new catchphrase, but two million employees around the world and countless American communities can feel the impact of a company that still pays poverty wages and drains local economies.
Concerned consumers everywhere should demand more from Wal-Mart than just a new logo.
Wal-Mart to revamp logo at its US stores [Associated Press]
Wal-Mart logo gets facelift [Benton County Daily Record (Ark.)]
Wal-Mart plans prototype store at Cordova site [Memphis Business Journal (Tenn.)]
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, June 30, 2008 | 5 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart vs. Floridians
When Wal-Mart threatens to build a new sprawling structure within a community, we have often witnessed a hard-to-explain hopelessness amongst local citizens who have few resources to fight back. The sprawl that Wal-Mart construction triggers often goes unchecked by those whom form the very cornerstone of democracy: the citizen. Sadly, the decision to bring a big-box retailer into one’s backyard is often left to a city planning commission, rather than the citizens who will best understand the effect of new development.
To fight these unleashed growth trends, communities in Florida have fought back, advocating what they call “growth management.” Instead of being marginalized at the behest of developer/commissioner backroom deals, a new voter initiative entitled Florida Hometown Democracy aims to restore power back to the people. It is, seemingly, a simple concept: allow citizens to control the destiny of their own municipality by giving them true democratic control over the growth and sprawl decisions. Naturally, one would expect the equilibrium to reach a point of responsible growth. Yet Wal-Mart has pushed back every step of the way, pouring money into the fight against the initiative.
Unsurprisingly, Wal-Mart would prefer planning commissions and city councils to continue rubber stamping its store projects, rather than let actual Floridians decide.
John Hendrick, one of the leaders of the campaign to pass the Florida Hometown Democracy amendment, comments on the fight:
Without Hometown Democracy, growth, sprawl will be the norm [Pensacola News Journal (Fla.)]
A federal lawsuit holds the promise of Florida Hometown Democracy qualifying for this year’s ballot. Should the court order it onto the ballot, it will validate what more than 820,000 people who have signed our petitions know: The people must have the power to make major growth decisions directly, because state and local governments can’t or won’t stand up to the development industry.
Witness what occurred this year in the Legislature. Not only did legislators not strengthen growth management, they tried to further weaken the rules that guide our state’s growth.
Luckily, many citizens stood up in a loud voice and said “no more,” and these anti-growth management bills died.
Florida Hometown Democracy is the only viable method available to citizens to rein in runaway growth and start meaningful reform of growth management.
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Posted by Tony Calero on Monday, June 30, 2008 | 2 comments | Permalink
Wal-Mart Vs. Officer Jimmy Singleton
Wal-Mart is now fighting to keep disability benefits from non-employees and well as employees.
Former Pine Bluff Police Officer Jimmy Singleton was shot in the ankle and knocked unconscious from a blow to the head in 2003 while patting down a suspect. Today he suffers frequent migraines, and the bullet remains lodged in his ankle making it difficult to walk or stand up for long periods of time. For the past 4 years he’s been waging a nasty court battle to receive disability benefits.
So where does Wal-Mart come in? To flex it’s political and legal muscle, and push the Arkansas court to set a Wal-Mart-friendly precedent by denying him benefits. Both Wal-Mart and Tyson, Arkansas’ largest employers, “tendered friend-of-the-court briefs with the state Supreme Court this month arguing his claim should be denied.”
In addition to being completely shameless treatment of an officer wounded in the public service, this looks to be another horrible business decision for a company who continually struggles with its public image. We’ll see what happens when Wal-Mart’s PR people catch wind of this disaster-in-the-making.
*Jeff Hess Over at Writing on the Wal has a post up on the Singleton case as well.
Wal-Mart, Tyson Oppose Injured Officer’s Claim [NW Arkansas Morning News]:
Former Pine Bluff police officer Jimmy Singleton was patting down a suspect on March 1, 2003, when the man stuck a gun in his stomach.
Singleton received a gunshot wound to his left ankle and a blow to the head that knocked him unconscious in the ensuing struggle. He says he sustained neurological damage that affected his thinking and that he walks with a limp because of bullet fragments.
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Posted by Eric Bull on Monday, June 30, 2008 | 5 comments | Permalink
Burnt Orange: An Ode to 70’s Decor
Wal-Mart recently decided to change its corporate logo from industrial blue to burnt orange. It’s an interesting color choice, one that reminds us of industrial grade vinyl, the plastic benches in fast food restaurants and, oh yes, the 70’s.
Is this really the style upgrade Wal-Mart Walmart was looking for? If so, they’re right on the cutting edge of design from 35 years ago. More after the jump (warning: some of this design may not be suitable for the faint of heart.)
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Posted by Media Team on Monday, June 30, 2008 | 30 comments | Permalink
Will a new logo distract from Wal-Mart’s image problems?
News broke this weekend that Wal-Mart plans to change its logo - and its name. The retailer will shift away from its current hyphenated, blue logo with a star to a burnt orange, one-word logotype reading simply “Walmart.” The retailer is planning to announce the change later this week.
Wal-Mart has been trying to update its image for several years, but the change the company really needs isn’t cosmetic. New logos and marketing gimmicks can’t mask the company’s low wages and poor health benefits. What would be even more innovative than a new logo? Changes to the company’s business model that would improve treatment of employees, communities and the environment.
Wal-Mart Plans New Logo to Update Image [Wall Street Journal]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is about to change one of the most familiar logos in corporate America.
Part of Wal-Mart’s continuing effort to update its once-dowdy image, the new logo for signs and building facades includes white letters on a burnt-orange background followed by a white starburst, according to an artist’s rendering that the company filed recently with planning officials in Memphis, Tenn.
In a change, the name will appear as one word: Walmart. When the company first started in 1962, the name was hyphenated by a dash. But in the past decade, the dash has been replaced by a star on stores and the corporate letterhead.
Initially, the store logo included white letters on a brown brick exterior. About 20 years ago, Wal-Mart moved to a sign that affixed white letters onto a battleship blue/gray background, bordered by red strips.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Monday, June 30, 2008 | 13 comments | Permalink
Friday Blog Round-Up: Field Trip Edition
WAL-MART ENDORSES THE SOLUTION FOR A PROBLEM IT HELPED CREATE
Wal-Mart this week agreed to let all its employees know about the Earned Income Tax Credit, which grants a tax break for low earning workers. Almost immediately, activists spoke out against Wal-Mart’s stance, blaming the retailer for those low wages in the first place and criticizing the company for trying to lean even harder on American taxpayers.
Wal-Mart wants taxpayers to support its low wage workers [Wake Up Wal-Mart Blog]
For many low-income workers, the EITC is the only thing keeping them from abject poverty. For that reason, it’s certainly a good program. However, the real problem is that so many workers have such low wages in the first place. Wal-Mart, which pays its workers poverty-level wages and drives down wages throughout the retail sector, is at the heart of this problem. If companies like Wal-Mart paid their employees a living wage in the first place, the EITC would not be necessary.
When the world’s largest corporation, when it has revenues in excess of $300 billion, when it has a lengthy and notorious history of shifting its employment costs onto American taxpayers, and when its employment rolls are rife with workers earning wages that put them below the poverty line, it is wrong to take the stage with that company and provide cover for its mistreatment of workers and irresponsible practices.
CONSUMERS BEMOAN WAL-MART’S WEBSITE, SERVICE, EXISTENCE
There are a slew of stories on Consumerist.com this week, with Wal-Mart customers chronicling problems of all varieties. Wal-Mart’s notoriously poor customer service has earned it a place in Consumerist’s “Worst Company in America” contest. Voting in the next round begins Monday - check back here for updates and commentary on the finals.
Walmart.com Holds $550 Hostage For PS3 Bundle It Won’t Ship [Consumerist]
Consumerist reader The Unicorn has $550 tied up in some strange Wal-Mart purgatory for a PlayStation 3 bundle that they won’t ship to her, even though it clearly states in their online terms that they won’t charge you for your order until it’s shipped. Her customer service queries are being met with content-free scripted CSR-bot responses. She writes, “Here’s the thing: don’t ever buy anything from Walmart, ever. I knew this, and ignored it, and now I’m paying the price.”
How To Cancel An Order You’ve Placed On Walmart.com [Consumerist]
As we noted in this earlier post, it’s technically not possible to cancel an order after you’ve placed it on Wal-Mart’s website. A helpful reader says there are a couple of ways around this, although neither option will immediately free up any hold on your funds.
Worst Company In America “Final Four” Bracket! [Consumerist]
It’s down to the final four worst companies in America, folks. The bracket has been updated and the next round will begin on Monday. Congratulations to the four companies that made it this far. You’ve really achieved something! Who do you think will win it all?
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, June 27, 2008 | 46 comments | Permalink
Worst Company in America: Wal-Mart Makes the Final Four
Voting in the latest round of Consumerist’s Worst Company in America contest will begin Monday. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as the results come in - thanks to everyone who’s gotten out and voted thus far!
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Friday, June 27, 2008 | 41 comments | Permalink
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