Let's face it, it's cool to hate Walmart. Their employment practices are suspect, they use cheaply made products from probable sweat shops, they crowd out older established family run businesses, they generate traffic, etc. There are a lot of great reasons, and even more completely illogical reasons, to hate Walmart. It's actually fun. It's sure as hell better then doing something real about the problems Walmart represents. This didn't use to be a big deal, but now it's actually hurting the bottom line. And if there's anything Walmart cares about, well, the bottom line is the ONLY thing Walmart cares about. So when the fact that their image sucks starts affecting profits, you'd better believe they start paying attention. This was the company that changed their entire Christmas strategy based on the sales figures for one day out of one weekend (Black Friday aka The Day After Thanksgiving). So, you would think that supporting or even "creating" fans and fan support sites via viral marketing firm would be a good idea. Not if you're Walmart. Instead, you send a shutdown notice to the (only?) fan website that bothers to defend Walmart. Because the best way to improve your corporate image is to prove once and for all that you're PURE EVIL. Good going, Walmart. Tomorrow, I suggest you switch to a policy where only people making $40,000+ shop at your stores, and advertise how all your products are made from slave child labor. That'll show the world how great a company you are.
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