It seems that some people are determined to criticize Wal-Mart for anything they do.  Apparently, it is a crime to be a successful business.  Apparently, it is a crime for a company to make a profit and to come up with ways of selling more products. Here’s the story of a new reason for some to bash Wal-Mart. 

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) has turned children’s yearly holiday wish list efforts into an online game, but not everyone is amused. The Wal-Mart “wish list” program lets kids compile gift wish lists on the Internet and then email that list to parents for holiday safekeeping. Think of it as an action item list of sorts. Sounds innocent and fair enough. Of course, Wal-Mart’s goal here — as it should be — is drive more holiday sales. No surprise there.

So, why the fuss? Some days it seems Wal-Mart can’t make a single move without being decried in some fashion

Well, one minor detail that I picked up on pretty easily was that some of the specific messaging Wal-Mart has used in the program — much of which won’t be picked up by kids — could be offensive to adults who are trying to teach their kids that the holiday season is about more than amassing toys. For example, in the Wal-Mart wish list program, cartoon elves guide kids through the website, applauding when a toy is added to a list and complaining that they’ll be out of a job when a toy is rejected. Ouch — who storyboarded this?

The larger concern is by direct marketing model to children, Wal-Mart is adding to holiday stress by increasing the kid nag factor. Although online wish lists have been available online at retailers for what seems like forever, this is the first time a retailer with the scope of Wal-Mart has presented an online wish list program which is designed for use only by kids and not adults

It’s the virtual equivalent of taking your kids into a Wal-Mart and letting them inspect every toy in every aisle — with obligatory coat pulls every few seconds (the nag)

Is this just innovative marketing by Wal-Mart or a pain in every parent’s head? What’s your take as a parent and/or WMT shareholder

My take is that Wal-Mart has come up with a marketing plan that has been used by companies catering to brides and expectant mothers for years.  Kids would do no more nagging for items on their Wal-Mart wish list than they do for cereals and candies advertized during Saturday morning cartoons on TV.  They’d do no more nagging than they do for the candy, gum and gimmicky toys that are at kids’ eye level in the check out lanes of virtually every grocery store and 7-11 store in the USA.

It’s not Wal-Mart’s responsibility to teach kids the “real” meaning of Christmas.  Their job is to sell merchandise and make a profit. 

Parents, if your kids are nagging you to death about buying things from their Wal-Mart wish list, you have more serious problems than Wal-Mart’s marketing plan.  Do your job as parents, and the marketing efforts of stores won’t be an issue for you.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 20th, 2006 at 5:11 pm and is filed under Headlines/Current Events, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.