CORPORATE CORRUPTION
CORPORATE CORRUPTION
Red Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart, which imports between 50 and 85 percent of its merchandise, is trying to boost sales by draping itself in the American flag. The retail giant has purchased sponsorship rights to a segment on ABC's Good Morning America called "Only in America." The move is part of a long-standing propaganda campaign by the company to mislead consumers into believing Wal-Mart reflects American values and favors American-made products. In fact, "80 percent of the six thousand factories in Wal-Mart's worldwide database of suppliers are in China." If Wal-Mart were a country "it would be China's fifth-largest export market, ahead of Germany and Great Britain." Ted Fishman, in his recent book China Inc., notes, "Wal-Mart's growth as an economic force is inseparable from China's rise as a manufacturing giant ... no company has been a bigger catalyst in pushing American ... manufactures to China." It's time to stop the deception. Sign the petition demanding ABC drop Wal-Mart as a sponsor of its "Only in America" series.
THE PATTERN OF DECEPTION: This isn't the first time Wal-Mart has tried to manipulate Americans' patriotic sentiments to improve its bottom line. In the 1990s, Wal-Mart advertised under the slogan "We Buy American, Whenever We Can." An investigation by then Dateline-NBC reporter Brian Ross exposed that campaign as a lie. According to the 12/24/92 New York Times, Ross's report revealed Wal-Mart stores displayed clothes manufactured in the Far East under "Made in the USA" signs and a Chinese manufacturer of Wal-Mart's was mislabeling products to avoid import quotas. Ross's NBC co-anchor Jane Pauley introduced the 1992 segment: "Why focus on Wal-Mart? Because the retail giant has carefully and consistently wrapped its image in the American flag." Thirteen years later, it is still at it.
RESTORING THE DIGNITY OF BRIAN ROSS: Brian Ross, who courageously took on Wal-Mart more than a decade ago, is now the chief investigative reporter for ABC. Today, his bio page at ABC features a large advertisement for a company website called Wal-Mart Facts. At that site you can learn that Wal-Mart was awarded "the prestigious 'Corporate Patriotism Award' sponsored by the Employer for Guard and Reserve" organization. Although it's not immediately apparent from the Wal-Mart Facts website, the "Employer for Guard and Reserve organization" is part of the federal government. So, it's not surprising that Wal-Mart received it, since Wal-Mart is Vice President Dick Cheney's favorite company.
WAL-MART'S TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES IS UN-AMERICAN: Wal-Mart is facing "a massive class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of workers who say they were underpaid, overworked and sometimes physically injured or abused while toiling in Wal-Mart stores throughout the U.S." The suit accuses Wal-Mart "of locking workers in closed stores; forcing them to breathe hazardous fumes from industrial cleaners; supplying them with faulty or unsafe equipment, such as unguarded fans; and setting workweeks in excess of 40 hours without offering overtime pay." The governments of Mexico and the Czech Republic have already filed briefs on the employees' behalf, alleging that Wal-Mart employees in their countries were similarly mistreated.
Red Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart, which imports between 50 and 85 percent of its merchandise, is trying to boost sales by draping itself in the American flag. The retail giant has purchased sponsorship rights to a segment on ABC's Good Morning America called "Only in America." The move is part of a long-standing propaganda campaign by the company to mislead consumers into believing Wal-Mart reflects American values and favors American-made products. In fact, "80 percent of the six thousand factories in Wal-Mart's worldwide database of suppliers are in China." If Wal-Mart were a country "it would be China's fifth-largest export market, ahead of Germany and Great Britain." Ted Fishman, in his recent book China Inc., notes, "Wal-Mart's growth as an economic force is inseparable from China's rise as a manufacturing giant ... no company has been a bigger catalyst in pushing American ... manufactures to China." It's time to stop the deception. Sign the petition demanding ABC drop Wal-Mart as a sponsor of its "Only in America" series.
THE PATTERN OF DECEPTION: This isn't the first time Wal-Mart has tried to manipulate Americans' patriotic sentiments to improve its bottom line. In the 1990s, Wal-Mart advertised under the slogan "We Buy American, Whenever We Can." An investigation by then Dateline-NBC reporter Brian Ross exposed that campaign as a lie. According to the 12/24/92 New York Times, Ross's report revealed Wal-Mart stores displayed clothes manufactured in the Far East under "Made in the USA" signs and a Chinese manufacturer of Wal-Mart's was mislabeling products to avoid import quotas. Ross's NBC co-anchor Jane Pauley introduced the 1992 segment: "Why focus on Wal-Mart? Because the retail giant has carefully and consistently wrapped its image in the American flag." Thirteen years later, it is still at it.
RESTORING THE DIGNITY OF BRIAN ROSS: Brian Ross, who courageously took on Wal-Mart more than a decade ago, is now the chief investigative reporter for ABC. Today, his bio page at ABC features a large advertisement for a company website called Wal-Mart Facts. At that site you can learn that Wal-Mart was awarded "the prestigious 'Corporate Patriotism Award' sponsored by the Employer for Guard and Reserve" organization. Although it's not immediately apparent from the Wal-Mart Facts website, the "Employer for Guard and Reserve organization" is part of the federal government. So, it's not surprising that Wal-Mart received it, since Wal-Mart is Vice President Dick Cheney's favorite company.
WAL-MART'S TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES IS UN-AMERICAN: Wal-Mart is facing "a massive class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of workers who say they were underpaid, overworked and sometimes physically injured or abused while toiling in Wal-Mart stores throughout the U.S." The suit accuses Wal-Mart "of locking workers in closed stores; forcing them to breathe hazardous fumes from industrial cleaners; supplying them with faulty or unsafe equipment, such as unguarded fans; and setting workweeks in excess of 40 hours without offering overtime pay." The governments of Mexico and the Czech Republic have already filed briefs on the employees' behalf, alleging that Wal-Mart employees in their countries were similarly mistreated.
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 5:01 AM
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