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"Wal-Mart's very success may be working against it," reports the Washington Post. "[T]he public tends to mistrust institutions that get too mighty." The world's largest retailer, with 4,300 stores and 1.3 million employees, Wal-Mart's woes include a lawsuit for Americans with Disabilities Act violations [5], federal raids netting some 200 illegal immigrant workers, and charges that employees are encouraged to rely on taxpayer-funded programs for health care [6]. Wal-Mart's response? Run feel good TV ads and increase political donations to become the second-biggest donor in the 2004 election cycle, overwhelmingly to Republicans [7]. "Our critics make an awful lot of noise, and we need to ensure that our side of the issues is heard as well," explained Wal-Mart spokesperson Mona Williams.
Links:
[1] http://dev.prwatch.org/users/6/diane-farsetta
[2] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/public-relations/crisis-management
[3] http://dev.prwatch.org/topics/corporations
[4] http://www.addtoany.com/share_save?linkurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdev.prwatch.org%2Fspin%2F2004%2F01%2F2398%2Fhiding-wal-marts-warts&linkname=Hiding%20Wal-Mart%27s%20Warts
[5] http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2004/01/19/daily29.html
[6] http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript247_full.html
[7] http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topcontribs.asp?cycle=2004
[8] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43156-2004Jan23.html