The Honorable WalMart.

Most of my friends and many of my aquaintances have heard my many rants on WalMart. And the reasons why I have been inside those doors only a time or two in a decade (the answer is that I was travelling and there was not another option in the one-horse town). If you have heard my WalMart blasts, then you also know that this is first hand information from working in retail strategy and working to save smaller companies (or just prolong their life). It is not the third hand drivel of people that heard, "so and so didn't get paid for his break last week". Things like WalMart's purchase of the lowest FDA approved grade of beef and (skipping a few really NASTY processing steps) their increasing that beef by 12% water weight. That may seem like a small thing to some, but imagine it without the added the water weight. If you're good with that, I've got an 11 ounce "pound" of coffee I'd like to sell you. And I know you'll like this one: How about a three quart "gallon" of gas...

This is by no means the worst example of the WalMart game, but is indicative of the overall techniques employed to grow the brand.

On to the point of this blog. Having been on the inside, having sat around board room tables trying to save smaller chains from the clutches of a company that it seems will do anything to win (including a 3-4 year loss plan for new locations to put the competitors out of business), I love to see the occasional dirty laundry come out. Some more has come out. And this time it's funny. It seems that the blog "Wal-Marting Across America" (they have taken it down since being found out) which presents a very rosy picture of a travelling couples interaction with all of those lucky enough to be working in a Walmart store (just ask them, they are really happy and love the company!) is actually a paid endeavor made possible by WalMart themselves. It's beautiful, really. It is the second fake blog by their PR firm Edelman to be exposed!

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