Planet Relations

12/13/06 UPDATE: Wal-Mart named to One Degree Hot List, a list of the top 10 people/organizations who in 2006 most influenced climate policy, science and public opinion.

Wal-Mart was named the "most socially responsible company" according to a poll of more than 30,000 consumers from 25 countries conducted by The Reputation Institute, and reported in Forbes. But how, since Wal-Mart has taken a beating for paying low wages, withholding healthcare benefits, and disrupting small, local businesses.  

More recently, stories have aired describing Wal-Mart's various sustainability initiatives including reducing packaging, supplying organic items, and testing some model green stores. Are the sustainability initiatives strategic business decisions to reduce operating costs and increase customer loyalty or are they public relations initiatives designed to deflect criticism away from Wal-Mart's social issues?

But if you want to improve your company reputation, don't you use pink? Everything from bowling to vacuums to tools, is now supporting breast cancer awareness and treatment. Are there any companies against it? It's easy to slap a pink ribbon on your packaging and join the cause. Hence the name…cause marketing. It's so overused, there's even a pink ribbon watchdog group.

Although green building and sustainability are hot topics, green ribbons are not available. So we must remain vigilant on the green front. As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis said, "sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

P.S. If you hadn't heard, the Walmarting Across America blog was a ruse set up by Wal-Mart's PR firm Edelman. Oops, they got caught. It perpetuated the term 'flog' or 'fake blog'

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