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Wal-Mart Trashed on Facebook

by Tim Stevens on August 27, 2007 at 09:36 AM

Wal-Mart's Facebook Group BackfiresWe credit Wal-Mart for trying to be relevant -- the mega-retailer recently set up a Facebook page and group to help college students design the ultimate dorm room -- but we don't give it too much credit in the foresight department.

Unsurprisingly, the retailer's foray into the world of Facebook has invited a flurry of negative comments from students, killing off any positive advertising the company could have received from the initiative and instead turning it into a venue for complaints about everything from Wal-Mart's labor practices to the quality of its products.

As of now, 209 posts have been made to the "wall" on Wal-Mart's "Roommate Style Match" Facebook group, and only few are positive. But it's not just the posts that are negative -- visitors to the group will also find photos from Wal-Mart protests, graffiti that turns the company's trademark smiling face into the Reaper, and other parodies of the company's advertising tag-line of "Always low prices. Always" with things like "Low Wages, Low Morals. Always."

Despite all the commotion, most analysts, bloggers, and other pundits think Wal-Mart should stay in the Web 2.0 game, as this article in Computerworld reveals.

Targeted online advertising may be booming, but even seemingly useful and innocent ads can turn into negative publicity if they rubs certain niche audiences the wrong way, as this latest Wal-Mart online brouhaha reveals.

From Slashdot and Computerworld

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Tags: advertising, Facebook, Wal-Mart

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