www.indymedia.us Walmart Stepping Up Campaign To Improve Image Arkansas11 Apr 2005 Walmart has finally started responding to public criticism as citizens from around the world have stepped up actions against them in the last year. However, they have chosen to respond with a high dollar PR campaign run by the infamous Hill&Knowlton public relations firm. Announced during last years Shareholders Convention, which was met withArkansas opposition, Walmart’s planned reforms have amounted to spending more money on image management and political lobbying than actually paying its employees a living wage or listening to communities it invades. Walmart’s media campaign culminated in a two-day, invitation only media blitz in their home region of Northwest Arkansas. Two Arkansas Indymedia Correspondents have the story from outside the press conference , where they met up with another group excluded from the event, The Coalition For a better Inglewood. Indyemdia Coverage of Anti-Walmart Activity Kansas City Madison Austin
There is nothing predatory about this. This is where economic logic gets lost. If a company is providing goods at lower prices than they were previously available, PEOPLE BENEFIT FROM THAT. Lower prices have the same effect as higher income - a higher standard of living. And Walmart isn't exactly the shopping mall of the wealthy. So here we have people outraged that a store is offering better prices to lower income customers. And you wonder why WalMart needs a PR agency? LOWER PRICES ARE GOOD.
Sam Walton was a little man, a child of the depression, a passionate man. He knew the value of hardwork and ambition. Above all he knew he could be the richest man in the world. He started his business - a chain of general stores across Arkansas with outrageous prices, and then along comes a guy who opened stores which sold the same products for a cheaper price. Sam did not like this and so opened up the first "Always low prices. Always" Wal-Mart. However, this was not enough. Sam needed to monopolize the market. He needed to knock out the Mom & Pop's of America which in turn would cut out the middle-men which in turn would lead to manufacturers catering soley to him. Ultimatley, cutting his costs and maximizing his profit. Since then Sam's doctrine has been snowballing. Wal-Mart has become a means to an insatiable end on the part of its puppet-masters and they won't stop until they have a store at every intersection in the world. I advise everyone to steal from them.
You can't blame the retailers for these things. They just respond to what the consumer wants. If people didn't shop at these god forsaken places, then they'd go out of business. The problem is not corporations; it's the mentality of the average person who can't see beyond price. I'm not sure how amerikkka compares to the uk, but over here, I constantly see people in tesco (our wal-mart) with trollies stuffed full of fake food that's 'cheap'. It's these people we need to reach, not the 'evil capitalists'.
