Welcome to the sixth installment of The Wal-Mart Weekly -- a new weekly column dedicated to bringing you insight, wit, facts, results, opinions and just a bit of everything else when it comes down to a very hot topic these days: Wal-Mart.

Last week I looked at Wal-Mart Stores' (NYSE:WMT) prices to really determine if the "always low prices" advertising and marketing tagline was accurate. While I only looked at groceries, I discovered that Wal-Mart's prices were indeed lower on six of seven items when compared with a local Albertson's grocery store.

This week I wanted to discuss what the retailer could do to get its advertising and marketing in order. Right now, it seems to be in complete disarray. From the dismissal of the Wal-Mart "Smiley" to the hiring of former Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) marketing exec John Fleming, the world's largest retailer has recently sent quite a few mixed messages.

Where is it headed? Read on.

Where has the "smiley face" gone?

Let's take a trip back to 2005. I used to see -- as did millions of U.S. television watchers -- the Wal-Mart "smiley" face bounce all over my television screen as an animated mascot (of sorts) for the retailer. The image that sticks in my mind was the smiley face romping throughout the store, happily slashing pricing signs and using his best Zorro impression to "rollback" prices. The smiley face became synonymous with "rolling back prices" for the world's largest retailer in its biggest market. Wal-Mart, back then, actually had an image and it worked well.

My fellow bloggers have weighed in on Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s (NYSE: WMT) "Threat Research" operation, calling it "paranoid" and questioning whether it made any "sense." Let me add a third word to describe this Keystone Cops operation: wasteful.

Wal-Mart has the right to defend itself against criticism. It has the right to make sure that employees aren't violating company policies. But does the world's largest retailer need its own mini-FBI? No.

The company seems to be worrying more about silencing critics and punishing misbehaving employees than about selling goods that people want to buy. What's funny is that the company's obsessesion with controlling its image and penchant for secrecy seems to continually backfire.

The Wall Street Journal story about the "Bat Cave" make Wal-Mart look petty and cheap at a time when it's trying to win back customers that have deserted its stores for Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) and other competitors. Investors have backed Target as well, sending its shares up about 18 percent over the past year compared with 4 percent for Wal-Mart.

Wal-Mart has got to ask itself whether the information it gains from its "threat research" is worth the bad feelings it creates with customers, shareholders and employees. If Wal-Mart wants to repair its reputation, it needs to be more forthcoming about why it does what it does.

Maybe then it won't need a secret 20-person department to investigate threats both real and imagined.