It’s been a big day for Wal-Mart photo centers. Early this morning, news broke that an employee at a Louisiana Walmart store stole compromising photos of Jamie Lynn Spears, with intent to sell the images to the media. Because Jamie Lynn is a minor, and because getting your personal photos copied and sold by your photo developer is creepy, Wal-Mart could potentially face penalties for the act.
But that’s not all. News ALSO comes today that the retailer has partnered with Jones Soda, maker of delicious and unusually-flavored colas, to let customers order custom-printed soda cans at Wal-Mart photo centers. Just when you thought you’d never find soda packaging that embodied your life outlook, Jones Soda has made it possible.
We really hope these two events aren’t somehow connected. It’s bad enough that stories about Jamie Lynn flooded our Google alerts this morning: it’d be even worse if we have to see her staring out at us from the soda case at the deli, too. And for those of you interested, you don’t have to go to a Wal-Mart to get your face on a Jones soda can: you can order a six-pack right on their website, and yes, we’re planning to get a case.
Jones Soda introduces myJones at Wal-Mart photo centers [Smart Briefs]
Celeb-a-razzi: Wal-Mart may be in trouble over Brit, Jamie Lynn photos [Detroit News]
Posted by Media Team | Permalink
Remember back in June, when the FDA warned consumers about eating certain kinds of tomatoes coming out of Mexico due to potential salmonella contamination? And then expanded that warning to include certain peppers as well? All vendors of these products, including Wal-Mart were to halt the sale of such items.
Cheryl Grubbs is filing suit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, alleging that her husband, Brian Grubbs came close to death after eating several jalapeno peppers that were purchased at a Wal-Mart and tainted with salmonella in an article published today in LawyersandSettlements.com.
[An earlier version of this blog post mentioned that the FDA recall in question occured on June 25, 2008. This was incorrect: we apologize for the mistake.]
Tomato-Pepper Salmonella: Why the Grubbs are Suing Wal-Mart
Dolores, CO: “Truckloads of contaminated jalapenos were turned back at the border before we bought them at Wal-Mart,” says Cheryl Grubbs, “so why did Wal-Mart still have them in their store?” Her husband, Brian Grubbs, almost died from the tomato/pepper salmonella outbreak, and Cheryl is furious because his illness could have been avoided.
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Posted by Luke West | Permalink
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.
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Posted by Eric Bull | Permalink
Your Tax Dollars at Work (or How Wal-Mart Costs You Money) [No Mount Orab Wal-Mart! Blog]
Money, money, money...Last week, the local newspaper reported that two police officers were added to the Mt. Orab police force. As I noted in an earlier post, most estimates place the yearly total cost of those officers (with salaries, training, and equipment) at about $75,000 per. The article also notes that the officers were added in expectation of the new shopping center anchored by Wal-Mart.
So the Wal-Mart’s not supposed to open until 2011, from what many have said, yet we’re already looking at an expenditure through that time totaling nearly half a million dollars of taxpayer money to pay for the officers. In a town of just 3000 people.
Tell us again how Wal-Mart saves us money?
Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Wal-Mart’s Edelman’s latest attempt to create an authentic Wal-Mart blog seemed to be dying a slow death - but the New York Times may breathe life yet into the latest PR campaign.
The Checkout Blog, where “all lanes are open,” is primarily a merchandising blog “dedicated to bringing you the latest in gadgets, green, gaming, and more.” The site is theoretically run by a blogger team of all mid-level Wal-Mart buyers (the number of Edelman PR execs working on the project remains unknown to us.)
The site has generated little web traffic so far, with most posts generating zero comments and being dedicated exclusively towards movies and video games sold at Wal-Mart. Several weeks ago, however, traffic and blog comments peaked (with an assist from a New York Times Blog link) when Wal-Mart made the major announcement that it was switching from HD-DVD to Blu-Ray Disc technology.
Lately we’ve been pleased to see a few more serious questions being posed by the bloggers about Wal-Mart’s role in sustainability and other issues, and we’re thrilled that the administrators of the site have allowed many anti-Wal-Mart comments to be posted. We always welcome any open discussion of larger Wal-Mart issues. But let’s not forget what the Checkout blog really is: a PR Campaign by Edelman to reach out to internet and blog types, who - let’s face it - are typically more resistant to Wal-Mart than most.
In case you don’t remember, Wal-Mart and Edelman failed miserably at their first two attempts into blogging, both being embarrassingly exposed as a PR firm pretending to be everyday grassroots Americans. It shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that Edelman is determined to make this one succeed.
**It’s easy to poke a little fun at Edelman’s blog and Wal-Mart’s bloggers, and it looks like Gawker has beat us to the punch today ("Wal-Mart Fits Right In To Dork-Filled Blogosphere.")
Read today’s New York Times article here:
Microsoft is one of Wal-Mart’s biggest suppliers. But that did not stop the Wal-Mart employee in charge of buying computers from panning Microsoft’s newest operating system, Vista.
“Is it really all that and a bag of chips?” he wrote on his blog. “My life has not changed dramatically — well, for that matter, it hasn’t changed at all.”
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Posted by Eric Bull | Permalink
Wal-Mart, a company renowned for it’s respect for the social and economic plights of women (read: easy exploitation), has funded an “inspirational” look at the 14 Women Senators of the 109th Congress. That’s right, fourteen women in the Senate! With a 14% representation of women, the Senate is on par with Wal-Mart’s own employment of women in store manager positions. It is no wonder Wal-Mart wanted to fund a film so close to its own (gaping void of a) heart.
The film is being screened in high schools across America….but don’t worry parents! This documentary is not some rabble-rousing indoctrination with hairy-legged bra-burnings and poetry recitals. No, no, no. There is no corruption of young minds with political insight, rather we have a look at what kind of women get so far. Think of it as a how-to guide for future political leaders.
1. Women Senators Must Have Children. We spend a lot of time in the homes of the Fourteen Women, seeing their families, discussing how they relate to their children, balancing being a mom with representing the nation, and getting home in time to make a great dinner! But don’t worry young ladies! Wal-Mart is here to help you achieve this important first step – that’s why their pharmacists refuse to dispense birth control and emergency contraception.
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Posted by Cass Brulott | Permalink
Today on socialmediatoday.com, Jim Tobin from Ignite Social Media talks about how Target got it right with their latest Facebook strategy - and how Wal-Mart got it all wrong. In his article, Tobin notes how Target tried to work with the Facebook platform by listening, instead of doing what Wal-Mart did: working on pushing a “style” component while they are a company that is known for their “practical” side. Such actually reminded me of that “Come and see the softer side of Sears” campaign...that aside, need we remind you of Wal-Mart past online efforts, such as their Fall 2007 collaboration with Edelman that resulted in the fake blog, or flog, controversy.
Maybe not knowing the medium, or the message to try and get out through the medium, hurt their efforts - and resulted in the Wal-Mart Room mate Style Match group wall ending up with postings like “Wal-Mart is toxic to communities and livelihoods.” -while Target garnered comments about people loving their stores. Sounds like, as with overall strategy, Wal-Mart might be better sticking with what they are known for - and better off by listening to their customers.
How Target Got it Right on Facebook, and How Wal-Mart Failed [socialmediatoday.com]
Back in August, we wrote a post about how Wal-mart’s latest social media marketing campaign was inherently flawed. We predicted that it would, once again, blow up in the retail giant’s face. (Note to the folks in Bentonville: Let Edelman focus on the traditional PR. Give us a call on the social media marketing stuff, k?)
Here’s what we said then, in a nutshell: This campaign won’t work because Wal-mart is talking “style” when they are known for“practical.” The campaign should focus on the utility of trying to move to a dorm. Alas, it was too late for them to listen.
But Target, on the other hand, did listen.
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Posted by Web Team | Permalink
Rally against proposed Wal-Mart to be held [News 10 Now - Syracuse, New York]
JOHNSON CITY, N.Y.—They are Johnson City residents, students, and business owners. Most joined through word of mouth, others during public hearings in recent months.
While the two dozen members of the recently formed Coalition for Positive Revitalization for Johnson City, have some different opinions, they have a similar goal in mind.
Coalition member Julie Deemie said, “Johnson city needs positive revitalization. We just can’t afford to have another business come into this area that is detrimental to our local economy.”
The group is against building a Wal-Mart at the proposed site on Lester Avenue for many reasons. Some are that the big box store could generate too much traffic, have a negative impact on the environment, and put mom and pop shops out of business.
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Posted by Corey Himrod | Permalink
CPR-JC hopes to halt Wal-Mart project [Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin]
JOHNSON CITY—In anticipation of an upcoming protest rally, organizers with the Coalition for Positive Revitalization for Johnson City held a news conference Monday to discuss their disapproval of plans to put a Wal-Mart Supercenter at a former Endicott-Johnson site.
“We have to show the village board just how many residents are against this retail development,” village resident Barbara Thompson, 69, said.
Each of the six CPR-JC members who attended the media event had a variety of objections to the large retailer. Some are against Wal-Mart stores in general, citing the low wages it often pays to its workers and other factors.
Others, such as Johnson City resident Julie Deemie, said the store will be a detriment to the economy, with much of the money spent by consumers going to company profits and not into other local businesses.
“The money does not stay in our community,” she said.
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Posted by Corey Himrod | Permalink
Attempting to take a no-nonsense attitude toward stopping the covert outflow of (mostly) small and medium objects from its sieve-like, gargantuan stores, Wal-Mart will now prosecute juvenile shoplifters as young as 16, even if it’s their first time. The measure, tough on paper, makes prosecution easier for store managers on 16 year old shoplifters and lessens parents’ abilities to protect their kids by reducing the time the parents have to respond before Wal-Mart calls the police. But with most stores understaffed and many employees themselves caught shoplifting, it’s doubtful that the retailer will have the will and ability to catch and prosecute what already is a very subtle crime. Strong attention to customers is a major deterrent to shoplifting; Wal-Mart’s stores, in contrast, continue to be as under-attended and raidable as a college pizza box.
Wal-Mart to Crack Down on Young Shoplifters [Wall Street Journal]
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. this week tightened its rules on prosecuting young shoplifters, lowering the age at which it will prosecute and authorizing store managers to call the police if a parent doesn’t appear within an hour to retrieve a child.
The policies, which went into effect Monday, now include prosecuting first-time shoplifters as young as 16 years old, compared with the previous limit of 18. The company also will prosecute younger shoplifters whose parents don’t quickly respond to a store’s call, and children repeatedly caught stealing.
The stricter policies come as rising thefts are bleeding Wal-Mart’s profits. In May, the company cited higher theft as one of the reasons for weaker profit margins during its fiscal first quarter.
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Posted by Alex Goldschmidt | Permalink
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has decided to curb its support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) organizations after conservative Christian groups threatened a boycott, and after some of its own employees expressed disapproval.
This article makes a strong case that Wal-Mart is under the influence of the Christian Right regarding cultural (GLBT) issues. As one Wal-Mart Pride employee puts it, “they’re catering to their conservative base”. The phrase “to put your money where your mouth is” applies in this case; Wal-Mart cannot claim they truly support GLBT employees unless they back their rhetoric with hard dollars.
As it stands Wal-Mart remains the only national discount chain that does not offer partnership benefits (both Sears Holding Company and Target offer same-sex domestic partnership benefits). Wal-Mart also has the dubious distinction of being one of the few companies to ever pull back a GLBT initiative. The only other Fortune 500 Companies to pull back GLBT initiatives is Exxon-Mobile and Perot Systems (Source: HRC’s Corporate Equality Index 2006). While Wal-Mart still has their sexual orientation anti-discrimination policies in place, they have taken a step backwards, not forwards to greater equality within the company.
Plugged-in: Wal-Mart shuns gay groups [Fortune]
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, has decided to curb its support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) organizations after conservative Christian groups threatened a boycott, and after some of its own employees expressed disapproval.
The move comes a year after Wal-Mart (Charts, Fortune 500) had put on a gay-friendly smile. The company joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. It sponsored the annual convention of Out & Equal, a group that promotes gay rights in the workplace and sold gay-themed jewelry in stores.
“We are not currently planning corporate-level contributions to GLBT groups,” said Mona Williams, the company’s senior vice president of corporate communications.
By way of explanation, Ms. Williams cited a policy adopted last fall saying that Wal-Mart would not make corporate contributions “to support or oppose highly controversial issues” unless they directly relate to the company’s ability to serve its customers.
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Posted by Research Team | Permalink
Borrowing a page from its citizen group opponents, Wal-Mart is doing a little community organizing in the state of Oregon, hoping to improve its lagging projects in the Northwest.
Wal-Mart’s new organizing offensive comes on the heels of a number of prominent store defeats for the huge retailer. The company claims that its website has attracted 15,250 Oregonians from across the state, who have offered to help fight for more Wal-Mart stores.
“From Portland to Medford,” Wal-Mart said in a press release, “Oregonians have united in their support of the world’s largest retailer by attending public hearings and testifying in support of Wal-Mart, writing letters to the editor of their local community newspapers and voicing their support to friends, family and neighbors.”
Wal-Mart says it will use the website “to inform supporters, community members and the media of Oregon projects.” The site allows visitors to join Wal-Mart’s database of Oregon supporters. “We’re excited to provide a new source for information on our proposed new and expanded stores in Oregon,” said a Wal-Mart regional public affairs manager. “Our stores bring new shopping opportunities, high quality jobs and increased tax revenue to Oregon communities, and thousands of Oregonians are taking notice.”
The problem has been, thousands of Oregonians have noticed Wal-Mart’s applications—and turned out in large numbers to fight the superstores. So pronounced has opposition to Wal-Mart become across Oregon, that a retail store has to hire PR firms, launch a website, and organize people to counter the efforts of anti-Wal-Mart residents.
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Posted by Al Norman | Permalink
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