Wal-Mart's Good Deeds [1]
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton [2] on
Wal-Mart Stores [3] "is enjoying its best publicity in years as even its harshest critics laud the retailer's Hurricane Katrina relief efforts," reports Emily Kaiser. And the company is planning a "secret spin strategy to counter a union-backed, anti-Wal-Mart media blitz" that accuses the company of paying poverty-level wages and driving competitors out of business. PR executive Eric Dezenhall [4], who specializes in corporate responses to activist campaigns, called ongoing criticism of Wal-Mart by organizations like Wal-Mart Watch and Wake Up Wal-Mart "tone-deaf." He said [5], "It strikes me as a rather graceless time to launch an attack because it's just a matter of time before this halo burns off. If I were Wal-Mart, I would be glad that my adversaries were attacking in this cycle."