MEXICAN SUPREME COURT SLAMS WAL-MART’S LABOR PRACTICES

Mexico’s Supreme Court rules against Wal-Mart’s labor practices [AlterDestiny]

Mexico’s Supreme Court has been making some really interesting decisions lately. Last week they upheld Mexico City’s law to provide access to abortion. Yesterday, they ruled in favor of a Wal-Mart employee in Mexico who brought a case against the corporation for its practice of providing store coupons in place of a portion of one’s salary.  (English story here, Spanish here). The court likened Wal-Mart’s practice to the old company stores that operated under the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz (1876-1910), that were subsequently outlawed with the 1917 constitution.

Walmart Slammed by Mexican Court [Politics and Hypocrisy]

Now to be fair, I am far from knowledgeable on the working conditions in Mexico. I do know that they must be bad enough to cause 1000’s of Mexicans to cross our borders yearly in search of a better life.

So knowing that, how bad must Walmart be in Mexico if their Supreme Court is criticizing their labor practices? I’ll give you a hint, an 1890’s dictator and store only salary vouchers are mentioned.

I wonder if they tell their employees how to vote down there as well?

After the jump, Wal-Mart’s new in-store TV network, the company’s outreach to mommy bloggers and why you should love the REALLY free market.

Read the rest of this story ...

Several stories were published this week regarding Wal-Mart’s newest way to annoy the already frazzled American shopper - the “Smart-Network.” Set to launch in close to 300 stores by the holiday season and chain-wide by 2010, the in-store TV marketing network will include 27,000 screens and feature everything from time-specific advertisements to a series of ‘welcome screens’ to be displayed at store entrances. Stephen Quinn, chief marketing officer of Wal-Mart stores, discussed the new system in a story from Adweek:

“We’ve built a network tailored to the way consumers shop our stores, delivering helpful, custom content closest to the point of decision that helps them shop smarter”

“Smarter” is right: now customers won’t have to make shopping lists, decisions about what products are for them, or even have to open their eyes upon entering a Wal-Mart. All they have to do is listen for the comforting sound of a television screen beckoning them closer and closer to whatever Wal-Mart feels like selling them at that time. The company sank $10 million into R&D for this project, coming off slightly better-than-expected sales numbers for the month of August, and seems to show the company’s faith in the system.

Wal-Mart Smart Net Pushes Point-of-Sale Ads

Trying to reach additional shoppers, Wal-Mart has launched the Wal-Mart Smart Network, which supplies information via in-store TV. The company invested $10 million in the project billed as “shopper-intelligent network at retail.” Powered by Internet Protocol Television, the new net will appear in more than 2,700 stores nationwide.

Read the rest of this story ...

Looks like another online advertising debacle for Bentonville. Valleywag has posted a screenshot today of a Walmart.com banner ad on a white supremacist’s anti-Obama blog. In all likelihood, the ad appeared on the blog through a third party company called Linkshare, which places similar ads all over the internet. It appears to have since been removed, and Valleywag quotes Wal-Mart as having told them it is “investigating this matter.”

Needless to say, Wal-Mart and Linkshare might want to start paying a little more attention to the blog vetting process…

*(H/T Jonathan Rees)

Wal-Mart has previously tried to win over college students, Facebook users, “working families,” and RVers in its social media misadventures. Now the company has a new target demographic: mommybloggers.

Maybe it was the toy recalls that made Wal-Mart decide to target mothers. Maybe it was the massive gender discrimination lawsuit filed in 2006. Or maybe it was the retailer’s problems adhering to WIC rules, or harsh treatment of pregnant employees that made the company think, “Huh. Women might not like us a whole lot.”

The newest project entails giving free video cameras to mommybloggers across the country and asking them to discuss how they like to save money. We imagine the conversation will pretty quickly turn to Wal-Mart. And Wal-Mart’s marketing execs undoubtedly hope those free video cameras are enough to keep the bloggers from mentioning Wal-Mart’s abysmal record for discriminating against women...but where would the fun be in that?

Retailer, moms who blog form new coalition [Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is venturing further into the social media waters with a coalition of busy moms who blog about how to save money on everyday necessities, vacations, even big-ticket items that may fall outside most shoppers’ budgets. Soon, the company intends to invite customers to share their own money-saving tips in exchange for a chance at winning a year’s worth of groceries. Blogs, or Web logs, are journals that are available on the Web. Some of the 12 moms selected for the project already have begun posting video clips on their Web sites, suggesting ways to trim spending.

Read the rest of this story ...

The Rome Newswire tells us today that Bentonville has ordered all of the area stores near Rome, Georgia to remove all free newspaper racks.

This on the heels Wal-Mart/ASDA demanding (and then relenting) that magazines on its shelves dedicate both advertising and editorial space to the company in every issue. Is Rome incident a fluke or part of a larger, company wide crackdown on media distributed in Wal-Mart stores? If anyone has noticed this elsewhere, write in and let us know.

(The Newswire is asking its readers to call area Wal-Mart stores and request that that the newspaper racks be replaced, and if necessary - go pick up a copy at the East Rome K-Mart, where they’ve “doubled [the] normal weekly drop to handle the additional traffic.")

Wal-Mart Stores Pull All Free Papers [Rome Newswire]:

Since the start of RomeNewswire’s print edition, The Newswire, readers have been able to pick up a free copy at their local Wal-Mart stores.

However, recently the home office of Wal-Mart sent a directive to remove all free news paper racks from the store’s vestibules. In many of the locations, store managers have moved The Newswire inside the store and patrons continued to have the free paper available to them. However recently, the area district manager for the two Rome Wal-Mart’s, along with the Wal-Mart in Rockmart and the store in Cedartown, has directed that the papers be removed all together.

We are asking that our readers contact their local Wal-Mart store and let it be known that they would like to continue to pick up the weekly Newswire paper at the Wal-Mart locations.

Read the rest of this story ...

Because there’s definitely not enough college football on the Wal-Mart Watch blog. And it’s Friday.

This, from Gamecocks fan: Wal-Mart sends out a bunch of LSU promotional fliers...in South Carolina.

Wal-Mart Is Confused [FITSnews]:

Unfortunately, somebody forgot to tell the “Every Day Low Prices” crew that SEC rivalries run deep, and it’s probably not a good idea to send a friggin’ Louisiana State promotional mail piece to a bunch of South Carolina mailboxes - particularly after the a**-whooping the Bayou Bengals administered to our beloved Gamecocks in Baton Rouge last year.