Wal-Mart Just Doesn’t Get It

Monday’s Wall Street Journal ran a story (subscription req'd) on how Wal-Mart has seen significant ‘product placements’ in a variety of TV shows this year. However, these shows haven’t focused on Wal-Mart’s everyday low prices but instead, have focused on the consequences of Wal-Mart’s low prices.

A response on this matter from Mona Williams, VP Communications for Wal-Mart, struck me as being deaf, dumb, and blind. Mona is quoted in the article as saying, "From PBS to 'South Park' -- it just shows you how much a part of the culture we (Wal-Mart) are."

I just don’t get how Mona can dismiss these perceptions of Wal-Mart. I’m much more of a believer in ‘perception is reality’ than ‘any publicity is good publicity.’

Read these abstracts on how Wal-Mart is being presented in recent television shows and see if you agree with Mona’s spin or with johnmoore's bewilderment.

Without a Trace (CBS)
A recent episode focused on “… a single mother who didn't qualify for health benefits and whose wages were so meager she had to deal drugs to pay for her son's hearing aid. The writers may have called the store by a fictitious name, but by dressing workers in Wal-Mart's trademark blue smocks, the resemblance to the world's No. 1 retailer was unmistakable.” (source: Wall Street Journal article)

South Park (Comedy Central)
“South Park built an entire episode around a "Wall-Mart" coming to town. Originally met with wild enthusiasm, the new arrival turns the town folk into consumer zombies lured by cheap prices to buy massive quantities of products they don't need. It also turns Main Street into a bombed-out ghost town.” (source: Wall Street Journal article)

King of the Hill (Fox)
Megalomart “ …is the merciless competitor of the small, neighborhood store where Hank Hill sells propane and propane accessories.” (source: Wall Street Journal article)

Frontline (PBS)
“Frontline explore(d) the relationship between U.S. job losses and the American consumer's insatiable desire for bargains in "Is Wal-Mart Good for America?" Through interviews with retail executives, product manufacturers, economists, and trade experts, correspondent Hedrick Smith examine(d) the growing controversy over the Wal-Mart way of doing business and asks whether a single retail giant has changed the American economy.” (source: Frontline website)

Documentary: The Age of Wal-Mart (CNBC)
"'The Age of Wal-Mart' tells the tale of how a family-owned retailer in Northwest Arkansas became the most successful retailer the world has ever seen. Given unprecedented access, David Faber (business news journalist) takes viewers from an annual managers' meeting that resembles an evangelical revival to the opening of a new store in China, where Wal-Mart is the country's 5th largest importer, following 3 countries and all of Europe combined.” (source: CNBC website)

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On a side note ... given recent media and public scrutiny, Wal-Mart has been focusing its recent advertising spend on telling their story (and some would say ‘making up a story’) of being a good place to work and being a worthwhile community citizen.

These ads don't seem to be swaying public opinion.

The 6th Annual Reputation Quotient Study from Harris Interactive shows Wal-Mart’s ranking slipping five spots to 28th place. And an ongoing CNBC viewer’s poll reveals that 41% of respondents characterize Wal-Mart as an ‘Evil Empire’ and 59% say Wal-Mart is a ‘Great American Success Story.’

Ouch.

Comments

[Steve Portigal]

For what it's worth - the South Park episode most actively attacked the hypocrisy of the residents of South Park for decrying the invasion while still shopping there and working there. Yes, the store was an evil malevolent demonic beast, but people still exercised free will despite knowing better (or...maybe...they were hypnotized).

To me, the show seemed to be saying "then don't shop there!" more than "Wal-Mart is evil" but they certainly reviewed the various evil aspects that Wal-Mart is being known for in popular culture.

[Kenny]

You can say the same thing about Microsoft and yet we still buy their products.

[Tom Asacker]

It all comes down to one simple branding principle, which no one seems to want to appreciate: It does not matter what people think about you or your business . . . at all. What matters is how you and your brand make people think about themselves and their decisions in the brand's presence.

People don’t buy stuff because they “like” a company. They buy because of how the purchase makes them “feel.” Consider Wal-Mart and Phillip Morris, Microsoft, Internet Sex Sites, ExxonMobil, Las Vegas, Grand Theft Auto, Donald Trump, ad infinitum.

People are not rational beings, focused primarily on the long-term and on the well-being of others. We’re emotional, impulsive and self-centered creatures.

I worked under Jack Welch at G.E.. He was a jerk (sorry Jack) – Neutron Jack! Paid great wages, wonderful benefits, terrific training and growth opportunities, etc. Think people left? Hell no!

Do you think Coca-Cola is a great place to work with wonderful people? Are they contributing to the future wellness of our children and the world at-large? C’mon.

I say Mona has it right: Wal-Mart is a part of the sociocultural dialogue. And unless, and until, someone else can create an equally resonant conversation that the masses actually care about, I say it’s a plus.

Remember when they interviewed Tom Monahan years back and asked him his thoughts about the recent negative press that Domino’s had received, because some over zealous drivers had run over pedestrians while trying to get the pizzas delivered in under 15 minutes? Google it. It will open your eyes.

And by the way . . . I think like you and Johnnie. But I also make a lot of unconsidered purchases.

[Chloe]

I thought it was rather ironic that when I typed Tom Monahan's name in with "interview", at Google, all I found was a site that said that Tom Monahan, in an interview, said he sees nothing wrong with creating a law school for "pro-life" lawyers. I would really be interested in what he had to say about the pizza driver accidents...
Fetuses must live, pedestrians must die?

I, personally don't "feel" good if my purchases are crummy for myself in truth, or crummy for the world.
But then that's because of my religious beliefs, the goal of which is to leave self-centered impulsiveness, and try to reach a love & service to community way of living.
But I think Tom Asacker is right about one thing... Most people don't give a shit about anybody but themselves in this very moment - the moment of impulse. And of course I don't expect everyone else to subscribe to my apparently off-the-wall do-unto-others spiritual beliefs.

And I also host & partially operate a fairly anti-wal-mart web site. As well someone I care about working at W-M, and I don't like the way she's treated, frankly.

So I definitely can say I personally dislike Wal-Mart and their practices... And I don't see anything wrong with disliking them.

[johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)]

Tom … I agree with you and Mona Williams (Wal-Mart exec.) that Wal-Mart has become a part of the culture we live in. With Wal-Mart taking in 8 cents for every retail dollar spent in the United States, there is no question Wal-Mart plays a significant role in our socio-cultural dialogue.

I reckon you can count me as being in the minority since I try my best to support businesses that not only make me ‘feel’ good about myself … but also make me ‘feel’ good about supporting businesses I like.

As a shopper, I am just not willing to compromise my principles for low prices. It’s a case of values having value – and I do not value Wal-Mart’s values for achieving low prices by any means necessary.

[Uncle Sam]

People point to Walmart and cry "anti-union".
Unions enable disfavored people to live satisfactorly without addressing their disfavor. This way their family's problems are never resolved. Without the union they would have to accept the heirarchy, their own inferiority.
Unions serve to empower.
Walmart is anti-union because they are good. They try to help people address and resolve their problems by creating an enviornment where there are fewer hurdles.

Media ridicule and lawsuits are creations to reinforce people's belief that Walmart is evil in a subsegment of the industry dominated by the middle and lower classes.
Low-cost disfavored Chinese labor is utilized by corporate america to maximize margins. They all do it. Only WalMart gets fingered because they are the ones who help, and those who seek to create confusion in the marketplace want to eliminate the vast middle class who have a real chance and instead stick with lower classes who may not work otherwise. So they dirty him up while allowing the others to appear clean.

The coining of the term "Uncle Sam" was a clue alluding to this::Sam Walton's WalMart is one of few saviors of the peasant class.