Feel-Good Wal*Mart Stories

Hard to find fault with Wal*Mart’s response to the Katrina aftermath …

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“Wal-Mart was able to get essential supplies to rural parishes in Louisiana before FEMA or the Red Cross arrived. The company's logistics and transportation system made it well suited to respond to an emergency like Katrina.” [National Public Radio audio]

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“The world's largest retailer has struggled on numerous public relations fronts in a prolonged battle with critics who say the company represents the worst of low-cost retailing. But Wal-Mart's response to the catastrophe - seen as far more effective than government efforts - has drawn praise from nearly all quarters.” [Associated Press article]

Comments

[Jim Seybert (on FoolsBox)]

I hate it when WalMart does something like this because it makes it harder for me to hate them.

Yes - they are doing a wonderful thing down there, but it doesn't mitigate the total damage they have done to small-town American businesses in neary every corner of the country.

Praising WalMart for doing good is like praising the school-yeard bully for beating you to a pulp, then offering his hand to help you stand up.

[Thomas]

I doubt that the folks who rec'd the help from Walmart would analyze it much like that. "I'd rather just hate them, no matter what, to justify my socio-politcal bent".

Listen, corner businesses in America are still plentiful. Look around. The smart ones sell up-market from what you get at Walmart, and they prosper. The dumb ones go out of business, just like they always did. I know people who also wish we could go back to 1964 when there were lots of low-paying jobs in steel mills, too. Or, 1970 when you could only buy an American made POS car....like say a Gran Torino or Granada. Makes no sense to me at all.

Thanks WalMart, for your role in helping Katrina victims.

[Steve O'Keefe]

I can tell you first-hand that Wal-Mart really came through on Katrina. A displaced New Orleanian, I watched in horror at those poor souls in the Superdome and Convention Center dying on *day four* for lack of water. Frantic, I used my knowledge of online PR to hound the makers and distributors of bottled water to *do something now*. Their responses are on IAOCblog.com.

Wal-Mart was not one of the companies I hounded, but their's were the first trucks I saw distributing water in New Orleans. On a trip into New Orleans a week after Katrina, I saw a line of 15 Wal-Mart trucks on one side of Convention Center Blvd. and a line of National Guard trucks on the other side of the street -- and no other working vehicles anywhere close.

I, too, have never been thrilled with Wal-Mart's business plan. But thier performance post-Katrina has changed my mind about the company. Their "pr stunt" literally saved the lives of people I know. If that's Wal-Mart's new marketing plan, thank God -- we could use more marketing like that.

STEVE O'KEEFE
Vice President, International Association of Online Communicators
Professor of Internet Public Relations, Tulane University College
New Orleans Refugee