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Wal-Mart’s Price Cuts Are More Marketing, Less Action

Just what the American economy needs: more nacho flavored cheez dip. Apparently Wal-Mart has grown tired of the U.S. government’s attempts to boost the economy: the retailer announced its own “stimulus” plan today. In a brilliant stroke of innovative marketing, the company will be cutting prices. Again. This might not be the most inventive approach to getting shoppers through Wal-Mart’s doors - indeed, it seems to be the retailer’s only approch - but it does show that Wal-Mart needs more customers badly. As this video from CNN explains, however, consumers aren’t going to spend their way out of a recession: holistic economic repair is needed. Wal-Mart’s practice of exporting U.S. jobs and draining community wealth are part of what has created the current economic problems. Wal-Mart’s “stimulus” then is little more than a marketing ploy. CNN’s Morning Buzz has more:

The problem with ‘Wal-Mart stimulus’ [CNN Money]

In what has to qualify as one of the more absurd headlines for a press release in recent memory, Wal-Mart announced what it called its “Economic Stimulus Plan for U.S. Shoppers.” The company said it was cutting prices on thousands of health care and household products and other items between 10 percent and 30 percent ahead of this Sunday’s Super Bowl.

I can only hope that this is meant to be tongue-in-cheek but Wal-Mart actually said in its press release that “against a backdrop of continued talk of a credit squeeze, Wal-Mart is concentrating on savings on the items customers need to buy at this time of year - unbeatable prices for the big game.”

So rest assured, consumers. You don’t need to wait for your tax rebate check. Go splurge today on Pepsi 12-packs, Tostitos Scoops and Hillshire Farms Cocktail Smokies.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Getting people to spend more is only one way to fix the economy’s woes. To really get the economy back on track, what’s needed is an overhaul of the mortgage lending process in order to protect borrowers from overzealous banks pushing exotic loans that the borrowers really cannot afford.

Posted by Alex Goldschmidt on Tuesday, January 29, 2008

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COMMENTS

This is Good News!

For those of us fighting the “Battle Against the Beast,” Wal-Mart’s Black Friday-like decision to lower prices on thousands of items to lure shoppers can only be seen as Good News!

For one… it’s not going to work.  Many consumers who will be getting their tax rebate checks as a result to the recently announced “economic stimulus package,” have alread said they are going to either save it or pay off some of their existing credit card debt.  Wal-Mart falsely believes as does the US government that we can spend our way out of this crisis.  The problems are far deeper and more complex than Wal-Mart would like to acknowledge.

Secondly, this is good news because it will cut into Wal-Mart’s already paper thin margins.  With any luck at all, maybe Wal-Mart will have to go to “Every Day Black Friday Pricing!”

ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, America
Tuesday, January 29 at 02:40 PM

Screwedby: Reminds me of the old adage: “When you’re in a hole,STOP digging!”

ddrb in
Tuesday, January 29 at 04:10 PM

Another Way of Looking At It...

You’re right ddrb.  Or, another way to look at it would be… when you find yourself getting into a hole in this country, go to other countries and START “digging” like crazy.

ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, America
Tuesday, January 29 at 05:02 PM

Speaking of dips, where is the matthew vantress daily insanity post here for this thread?

Agent 86 in
Wednesday, January 30 at 05:29 AM

He’s not out of his stupor yet.

MA in
Wednesday, January 30 at 07:00 AM

...out of his stupor...

Being in a stupor never stopped him before.

“If you care about a local economy, you will hate Wal-Mart.” ~Rosemary Atkinson

Ken V in Texas
Wednesday, January 30 at 02:02 PM

Wow, Matt is gone 1 day and you MISS him already.  Didn’t know you all cared so much about him.

jerry in
Wednesday, January 30 at 05:16 PM

Let’s see if he can go a whole two days without posting about being a ufcw member twenty years ago as a grocery bagger.

Oh and those few months he worked at K-mart!  He doesn’t want us to forget about that either.

Is it just me, or does anyone else agree that these job experiences should make Vantress more sympathetic to the Walmart workers instead of less so?

Corgishepmom in Irrigon, OR
Thursday, January 31 at 04:33 AM

He is management material, he would fit in like a glove.

ma in
Thursday, January 31 at 07:53 AM

Yeah...Isn’t That Pathetic!

It’s true, people have invoked the name of matthew v in the past two weeks, but I don’t seem to recall them mentioning you, “jerry”.

ScrewedbyWal-Mart in Anytown, America
Thursday, January 31 at 08:01 AM

Isn’t jerry one of DUH DONALD other names?

JOE in
Thursday, January 31 at 10:59 AM

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