Wal-Mart's new ad campaign - are you buying it?

WalMart is a great retailer which saves average Americans a great deal of money which can be used for additional purchases. WalMart also pays better and provides better benefits than any displaced Mom and Pop businesses (which charged exhorbitant prices) created by WalMarts entrance into a community. WalMart is a boon to Lower-and-Middle-income people.

ANOTHER BONEHEAD IDEA FROM A MANAGEMENT STAFF THAT IS SO INBREAD THAT IT CAN'T EVEN FIND THE RESTROOMS. AS STATED IN THE ARTICAL "SPILLING MONEY INTO ADVERTISMENTS WILL FIX THE PROBLEM".
MANAGEMENT AND STAFF AT STORE LEVEL KNOW WHAT THE PROBLEMS ARE BUT THE "OZARK FEW" CAN'T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES.

And you can't spell article. Duh................

Funny, how when your on top everyone wants to shoot you down? Unions do nothing but destroy the direction of any company, and make room for worthless, lazy people to campout, and take advantage of an opertunity some hard working person would like to have? Let welfare take care of lazy people, and let Wal-Mart serve the hard working American workers, that deserve an opertunity to grow. I've known the company for 30 years, and though not perfect, the best example of American work force we can all be proud of! Even the Fedral Government follows their lead. You can either be a Union member, and a leach on society, or a Wal-Mart employee and contribute to the world? Take responsibility for your future. America is a free country, if you dont like what Wal-Mart's doing, quit! find another job! Wal-Marts one of the greatest success storys of the 20th century!

Since Sam Walton departed, Wal*Mart's chieftans have not been merchants. Bob Nardielli just got cut loose as Home Depot's CEO . . partly because he was not a merchant. Albertson's and American Stores have self-destructed because they were run by bean counters. The lesson should be clear by now. How WMT's CEO Lee Scott keeps his job is a mystery. No amount of PR can paper over the flaws in the company's culture.

THE UNIONS WHO CANT HOLD THEIR OWN LOSING MEMBERS BY THE THOUSANDS NEED WAL-MART TO THRIVE. THE UNIONS STINK THEIR TIME HAS PASSED BUT THEY DON'T KNOW IT. FIGHT THEM HARD TO GET RID OF UNIONS.

It's funny how people from the outside looking in don't have a clue as to what's going on. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but before you give praise to one and down the other, kind out the facts first! People from the outside think Walmart employees are the treated the way every person wishes to be treat by their employer, but ask the employees themselves and you'll most likely get a different response. Some work at Walmart because they have no choice! Some are former "Mom and Pop" business owners who lost what they worked so hard to gain by "the big dog" and have to either move for get a job with them just to make ends meet. Then for those wh don't know, the average salary for Walmart employees is $15,000 a year (or around $7.21 per hour)! No one can make it on just that alone! Yet, the employees are worked to the bone. And they are "rewarded" by getting a 10% discount and ability to buy stock at a cheaper rate (WOW). Buying stock and getting a discount on everything except groceries is not going to help an individual when the bills need to be paid and their check is too small to cover for their expenses. I used to think Walmart was the place to work, until I got hired. Then I figured out the reason why a lot of the employees seem unhappy. And for those that say "get another job", for some it's not that easy. Considering the job market now good paying jobs are not easy to come by. Walmart knows how their employees feel and right now, Sam Walton is turning in his grave with the way his employees are being treated. His passing was the downfall of Walmart because the people at Corparate don't have the passion for the individual like he did, only passion for money. So please don't be so gung ho to praise a company without being sure it's worth of it.

What did you expect Wal-Mart to do, take the continued barrage of attacks from the union-funded groups lying down? They have an obligation now to tell their side of the story.

Asking them to provide pay or benefits that exceed those of their principal competitors isn't the answer. How can you be competitive if you're forced into higher overhead??

Better question. How come there is no "Wake Up Target" website? Let's take a look at their pay and benefits in comparison. Would any of the bloggers here accept the challenge of writing a story that would actually require some investigative journalism?

The reason why Walmart is the focus of much attention from union groups and community activists is simply because they are the largest employer in the US. Change has got to take place at this organization so that other competitors are "forced" to change their human resources philosophies. Another poster on this site mentioned the absence of a "Wake up Target" movement and makes a very good point. Target is a much smaller competitor to Walmart and has the luxury of being able to hide in the shadows of this retail behemoth.
As a former Executive with Target Stores, I can assure you that many of the same conditions and practices for which Walmart is widely criticized exist at Target as well. Target has done a proactive job at "spinning" a public image that looks hip and glossy--an employer of choice. I assure you, it is not.In this instance Target has out-marketed Walmart on many levels. Walmart has a lot of catching up to do. The facts are that many big-box environments have grown to be less employee friendly over the years. The focus is largely on bottom line profits and preventing corporate exposure to lawsuits.
The issue is far larger than Walmart but, due to Walmart's position in the marketplace--change must begin here.

You make excellent points, Mark. I don't think pro or anti factions dispute Wal-Mart's leadership role. Retail/Service is the largest sector and Wal-Mart is by far the largest retailer. They are the second largest corporation by profits and first by most everything else. The question is, where is Wal-Mart leading?

More and more people are coming to realise in the "race to the bottom", Wal-Mart is ahead by a mile!