21 replies to this topic

[mikemfer]

The overall theme of convenience. But again, I'm not trying to nitpick. I totally understand what you're saying. You just have to dig deeper man.

[raubhimself]

oh yeah, i agree. like i said, i usually don't buy anything from there, i just walk around stoned or bored or both. wal mart is a college kids paradise. once i have a steady job, a regular schedule, and my own place i'd be glad not to shop elsewhere. but with a fucked up schedule with classes and work almost everyday it's hard to make it to "normal" stores while they're open. so in that respect i can see why some people shop there.

[mikemfer]

not to mention their music censorship policy.  they are, unfortunately, one of the largest music retailers in the world.  any music sold in the store is edited for content - which includes language and themes.  a few years back, sheryl crow refused to change one of her songs for them (which happened to contain a line about children being able to buy guns at wal-mart) and they banned her music in all of their stores.  so in effect, they have the ability to censor the music industry. 

Yeah, it's incredibly ironic that they would run an ad saying, "you don't want your government telling you what to read". They obviously feel that they're the authority who should tell you what to read and what to listen to. They also censored "In Utero" by Nirvana because the back cover had plastic baby dolls without any clothes on in a pile. They refused to carry "America, The Book" by the Daily Show people.

That's where "Waif Me" came from- Nirvana's censored In Utero release sold at WalMart.

Waif me
Waif me my friend
Waif me
Waif me again

[mikemfer]

I was making a point by using extremes. To spell it out- if you're hungry, all you theoretically have to do is chop off a piece of yourself and eat it, but you don't for obvious reasons. You go out of your way to find something else. The subtle point is that shopping at WalMart is like givng up a little piece of yourself that you'll never get back.

[weener]

Anyone seen that Frontline "Is Wal-Mart Good For America?" It's very thought-provoking. This is what Wal-Mart does to make all its money:

Let's get the hottest item that we can find within a category, the item that customers, they're going to look at that, and they're going to equate that to the lowest price in town. They're going to see that, and they're going to say, "Wow," and they'll form an opinion that this is the best place to shop. And Wal-Mart doesn't run too many sales, as you probably know, but "I can come here every day and find the items that I want at the lowest price in town." But they're duped.

Then they've got you, because you walk about 10 more feet, and you see the item you really want in that same category. Then you buy that item, but it's not going to be, probably, the lowest price in town. You may be able to go down the street to Home Depot, for example, and find that same lawn mower that you just bought for either the same price or a little lower. ...