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Wal-mart Hides Scandal

Posted on by Brian Lee

How many scandals can Wal-mart have in one week? First their stores in Mexico are caught for bribing politicians (and then Wal-mart covered up the investigation), and now they are being fined by the Labor Department for denying workers overtime pay.

Who cares about another Wal-mart scandal? Well a few years back Wal-mart’s then CEO cared, and began an initiative to revamp Wal-mart’s practices and their public image. Yet according to the New York Times, the same CEO is the man responsible for covering up Wal-mart’s internal bribery investigation of the Mexico scandal.

Sounds like his public relations efforts are a mix of genuine effort to change, and still wanting to hide from the public when it gets uncomfortable.

These recent scandals could tarnish the image Wal-Mart has worked to rebuild over the years,  but I am not convinced people will stop shopping at Wal-mart. People who shop their care about low prices and the convenience of getting it all in one place- I don’t think most shoppers care what Wal-mart does.

Yes, some do. And they need a strategic PR campaign to address these recent scandals. Especially since there have been protests in New York and Boston where Wal-mart is attempting to build stores. Wal-mart has to address the scandals and show the public they have plans in place to be sure it won’t happen in the future (and they won’t cover it up if it does!).

But Wal-mart has had a lot of questionable practices in the past, and I think the people will continue to fill the stores across the nation if they continue to roll back the prices.

Bumper to bumper

Posted on by Emilie Buckman

With this being an election year, I have to brace myself for the inevitable bombardment of political ads.  Soon every television station, newspaper, billboard, and politically conscious college kid will be telling me who to endorse.  It’s just so tiring.

But of all the terrible, mean-spirited messages and images that come with elections, nothing gets under my skin like bumper stickers.  Now, you might think that bumper stickers are an irrational and insignificant thing to be annoyed by and you’d be right.  But they still drive me crazy and with any hope you’ll feel the same after this post.

To me, bumper stickers are tattoos for cars and much like tattoos, bumper stickers are much easier to put on then they are to take off.  (I don’t care if they say easy removal; you’ll never full get that sticker off your car.)  Since that level of commitment worries me, I think the only good tattoos and bumper stickers stand the test of time.

When I see someone who made the decision to apply a political bumper sticker to their car , it’s like they are telling me, “I make bad choices.”  Whether I agree with their endorsement or not, I’ll never agree with them choosing to adorn their vehicle with something so trendy and fleeting.  Even if your candidate wins, you still lose! You’re stuck with that bumper sticker for the long haul.

So before you vandalize your bumper with a sticker, I encourage you to stop and think, for my sake and your cars! Remember, a hot coed with a lower back tattoo turns into a middle-aged mom with lower back tattoo.  So too will your bumper sticker be a dated reminder of past decisions, whether it’s “Obama 08,” “McCain Palin,” “W ’04,”  or the sad “Gore/Liebermann” I saw the other day.

5-Hour Energy commercials

Posted on by Brian Lee

I’m stunned by the poor quality of the 5-Hour Energy commercials I see on TV. If you’re not familiar with the product, it’s a little bottle of liquid that contains as much caffeine as a cup of coffee.

The production value of these spots reminds me of a high school A/V club. It’s almost like the video team tried to make the commercials bad, but I doubt that’s the case.

Check out this commercial. Poor lighting, bad actors and ugly graphics come to mind for me.

Yet, the product sells, so the spots must be resonating with the intended audience. Maybe people are so groggy that they don’t care?