Wal-Mart's "Earth Month" Campaign

Ahhhh Ahhhh Ahhhh! I got the Promo Xtra email (a marketing newsletter) this morning in my work inbox, scrolled through the headlines to see what would catch my eye and saw the headline: Wal-Mart Goes Green with Earth Month Campaign


I had heard a bit about this but finally had time to digest it so I clicked on the accompanying article and started to have many mixed emotions about it. Main emotion? Aggravation.


Here's the jist: Wal-Mart has this month-long campaign this April (Earth Month) as part of its push to show their shoppers that dear ol' Wal -Mart cares about the environment and that shopping green can be affordable, too! As we all know, we normally have to pay slightly more for eco-products so Wal-Mart is doing a good thing, right?


The article goes on to say that they will be showcasing more than 50 green products in their stores (otherwise known as a cross-promotion of sorts for corporations) ranging from Ultra Tide's cold water detergent, Coca-Cola with their branded t-shirts made out of recycled plastic bottles, and will be offering Fair Trade organic products in order to offer income to small scale farmers. They will also be giving away 1 million custom made reusable bags on April 19th -- Earth Day eve -- which, by the by, I believe they should go a step further and ban plastic bags altogether!!

Wal-Mart's Earth Month Campaign. Sounds noble of them, right? But this all just doesn't rub me the right way!



I proceeded to IM my sister (who happens to work for a fair trade supporting non-profit org) and we both vented about this and agree that we are both on the fence about this whole thing.

Pros? Yes, Wal-Mart (a store we loathe with every fiber of our body) is making lower-income people not feel left out of the eco-loop by having them be able to purchase eco-friendly products at a low price. But it's still Wal-Mart! And this is all just some ploy to gloss over their evils!

Let's start off with the Tide coldwater detergent. Correct me if I am wrong but I have a hunch that is is NOT biodegradable so although it may help conserve energy it is still wrought full of harmful chemicals. (Just did a quick little dig on the product and people seem to have the same sentiments about its non-eco friendly ingredients).

How about the Coca-Cola t-shirts made with recycled plastic bottles? Nifty idea but...how about Coca-Cola's tie to human rights violations in Colombia? Abuse and murder, anyone?

Great, Wal-Mart wants to carry fair trade organic items in their stores to provide decent wages/income to small scale farmers but how about them not treating their own employees well enough?

So yeah, I dunno. I mean, I don't even like Wal-Mart anyway but should I just turn the other way and applaud them for their efforts even though I know it's all this sham? Plagues my mind...

Thoughts on this greenwashing?