Who is Wal-Mart fooling with this ad campaign that they pay a living wage?

[spotbird]

It must work or they wouldn't be spending all that money on it. But man, who is stupid enough to think that they pay the ordinary clerk a salary that is sufficient to have her teeth cleaned, much less put a kid through college?

My particular favorite is the one where they feature someone whose family member needed expensive medical care that Wal-mart covered, so all is right with the world. It is incredible that anyone thinks Wally-world pays health insurance for most of its employees.

[SoCalDem]

1. Their ads always show the ones with the jobs that the others aspire to,

but are never going to achieve..

They are showing minorities who have "made it" to the upper echelons..

They would never in a million years dare show a commercial with a "regular walmart job"..

Too many of us oout here know people who work there, and knoiw how they are really treated..

The commercials show the jobs, that the rank and file "think" they will someday move up to :eyes:

[Nikia]

7. Better chance moving in fast food

Since many people who work there are teens or people working there only until they find something better, there is less competition. Since you work in a team environment that is esay to monitor at all times, management will really notice if you are a good worker and have leadership potential. Being a fast food manager sucks but it is actually a career path for those who might not have a chance to otherwise advance in pay or poisition in other environments because of lack of education or a shady past.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. Not always the case

My stepson was an assistant manager at a national chain. They sent him to restaurants that weren't paying, and he'd clean up their act. They kept promising him a managerial position, and then would hire someone else. He put in six months before for a day off, but they denied it to him because he had to train the manager who they had (again, for the third time)hired to take over one of the stores he'd saved. They basically told him he was their slave, ordered to work 12 and 14 hour days doing the grunt work, never to be given any raise or any promotion. He quit.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. They're obviously fooling job applicants . . . . *Sigh!*

[spotbird]

3. Probably not.

Most applicants are likely there for survival, not to get ahead.

[ashling]

4. When I get my job at Wal Mart

I get to wear one of those spiffy blue vests. Then I can get me some hot babes, cause you know how they always go fer guys in uniforms.

[Rick in Maryland]

5. Those really cool guys that work in the electronics department sure look

as though they are living it up and living it real. At least the really cool looking guys they feature in the TV spots. The one that brags about these things called D....V....D's.

[OpSomBlood]

15. Don't get me started on Wal-Mart and DVD's...

Wally World is the main reason we have those God-forsaken chopped-up "Full Screen" discs on the market...to pander to inbred idiots who can't understand the concept behind the "black bars."

[Rick in Maryland]

6. The way it works is that they try to hire women who are on their

husband's insurance. That way they wont need Wal-Mart's crappy and expensive health insurance.

[madrchsod]

8. walmart the richest company in the world

and if you want health insurance you pay a huge percentage of your 7-8.50 an hour wage to purchase it.

[lanparty]

9. The Chicago City Council ...

They let Wal-Mart in.

[spotbird]

13. Because they were concerned about losing tax $ to the 'burbs.

not because they wanted good jobs in Chicago. Yes, there would be jobs, but those that only pay well enough to keep people poor.

[Deja Q]

10. It's all a part of NSM200, I should :tinfoilhat:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&q=NSM+200+Kissinger&spell=1

[drdigi420]

12. they fool the same ppl that believe in trickle down economics...

...a liberal bias media, and a magic man in the sky

in other words, about half the US citizenry


(edited for typo)

[blurp]

14. Always the same unfair smears against "evil corporations"

Has anyone here actually looked at Walmarts' numbers?

http://moneycentral.msn.com/investor/invsub/results/compare.asp?Page=ManagementEfficiency&Symbol=WMT

Walmarts' profits per employee are just 1/4th the the average of a company listed on the S&P 500.

Their net profit margin is half the S&P average.

The payouts to shareholders are much less than the money that goes to pay employees.

Walmart provides thousands of no skill jobs to people with no skills. Is this really bad?

Tell me what anyone here has done provide better paying jobs to people, besides complain.

[spotbird]

16. Um, Wal-mart is a predator.

In my part of the world they opened stores in several very small towns in order to put the small local proprietors out of business (these are the folks Chimp lauds as the entrepreneurs). Once they had successfully closed the small businesses in the localities they closed the local stores and opened a "Supercenter" central to the smaller communities.

It worked perfectly, now the small towns don't have a grocery store for 25 miles or more.

The sorry part of this story is that it is about the most ethical thing Wal-mart does.

As for you poor, huddled, masses of unskilled workers who Wal-mart rescues, since they aren't paid a living wage, they aren't helped by Wal-mart. Somehow taking people without opportunity and giving them no opportunity doesn't make a company heroic in my book.

[blurp]

18. So no one opens another store that's closer?

It worked perfectly, now the small towns don't have a grocery store for 25 miles or more.

OK. So what stops someone from reopening a new store that's closer and making money from all those people?

As for you poor, huddled, masses of unskilled workers who Wal-mart rescues, since they aren't paid a living wage, they aren't helped by Wal-mart. Somehow taking people without opportunity and giving them no opportunity doesn't make a company heroic in my book.

This is obviously false.

If they aren't helped by Walmart, why do they bother working there?

But again I ask, what is anyone here doing to provide better wages for these people, besides just complaining? Walmart gives these people jobs and most of the people complaining about it have no alternatives to offer.

What all this radical anti-corporatism comes down to is an envy of power. Corps are in a position to make decisions that affect thousands and we are not. Most of the bashing here has little to do with justice and everything to do with finding some reason to bash the corp on top.

[Timefortruth]

19. In the real world there just aren't many people with the

capital to reopen business after their predecessors were bankrupted by predatory practices. In your la-la land there are an unlimited number of entrepreneurs who are willing to risk capital to be put out of business, but in the real world small businesses operate on a thread and just can't compete with the unethical practices of a monopoly.

If they aren't helped by Walmart, why do they bother working there?

The answer is the survival instinct. Because people can meet their most basic animal needs working at Wal-mart it does not follow that they benefit from employment there. There is a difference between staying alive and prospering. Since there are no other jobs people take what they can get. Certainly the life of the average employee does not come close to the fantasy displayed in the advertisements. The truth is that most live in poverty.

What you don't get is that an affluent middle class benefits the whole society. An abundant population living in poverty sinks all ships.

If you doubt that, research the stock market under Democratic v. Republican administrations. Contrary to mythology, the market and the economy as a whole preform much better under Democrats, wages are up, employment is up and more people become rich when society moves to protect everyone's interests. I am certain you will not reply to this comment in a substantive way because the reality that when money is not horded at the top the result is beneficial to everyone, is lost to those who believe the poor chose their lot.

What is truly ironic is that most of the voting proponents of exploitation are its victims, they really think that some day the gravy train will stop at their at their house.....

[FizzFuzz]

21. Thanks for a great post truth

I wish I had that eloquence and command of facts when I'm confronted by opinions based on myth. Or at least memorize good posts like this.
I can't stand it when I know something but can't respond to the other person cogently. I'm not very good at debate.

[Timefortruth]

23. What a kind thing to say.

I really appreciate it.

[spotbird]

22. What some people call fair business practice others call envy.

"What all this radical anti-corporatism comes down to is an envy of power. Corps are in a position to make decisions that affect thousands and we are not. Most of the bashing here has little to do with justice and everything to do with finding some reason to bash the corp on top."

If the "corp. on top" engaged in fair practice, there would be much less to complain about. It could be that the desire for the basics in life by Wal-mart employees is just the "envy of power." Maybe complaining about the inability to see a dentist when you need to, or a doctor when you are sick, is just another way to find a "some reason to bash the corp on top." On the other hand, some people just want to get by, without any other goal. In the new business environment that is greedy, what the employees should understand that they are unworthy of those services.

[mitchum]

24. Oh man, your shilling for Wal-Mart is a spot on parody...

LOL!!! :)

[spotbird]

25. It is so cool when they are silenced by the truth.

Another small victory, without a convert.

Wonder how people who are proved wrong go on saying the same thing?

[Bozita]

17. MORT CRIM: Costco's compassion irks some capitalists

http://www.freep.com/voices/columnists/crim31_20040531.htm

MORT CRIM: Costco's compassion irks some capitalists


May 31, 2004




BY MORT CRIM


Did you catch that Walls Street Journal piece about Costco upsetting investment analysts because it's too good to its workers? How dare the giant wholesaler provide affordable health care coverage and other generous benefits to its employees?

Doesn't Costco's management understand every dime that goes to a worker is one less dime for investors? Paying a worker's hospital care might mean smaller yachts or slower private jets for the well-heeled.

What is Costco thinking? I mean Wal-Mart would never be so mean to its investors, which is why Wal-Mart workers don't have affordable health care and why that retailer faces so many lawsuits from workers who claim Wal-Mart routinely overworks and underpays them.

One retail analyst with Deutsche Bank Securities says Costco has it all wrong, that the first loyalty of public companies is to shareholders, not workers.

more...

[bobbieinok]

20. also ads on NPR