A "GREAT VALUE" . . . FOR WHOM?

Every bite you take of those halfway tasty, stale-even-though-it's-before-the-use-by-date Great Value graham crackers, an angel dies. Every piece of fabric attempted to be softened by the Walmart brand softener, an angel. And those uncomfortable steps in shoes that don't seem to conform to human feet? Yeah, another angel.

But we're sure you knew that.

The Wrath of Walmart.

Walmart has been profiled and exposed in news programs, documentaries, in court, and on websites devoted entirely to the subject of why Walmart is bad (we recommend WalMart Is Pure Evil for a good bedside read). Walmart is the largest seller on earth, with more employees than any army besides the Chinese. They make more money than most countries. (Click for some stats.) They've used child labor, forced food growers into bankruptcy, taken life insurance policies out on their own employees, disallowed the formation of unions (to the point of closing stores rather than let workers unite), lied about the origin of their products, refused to issue recalls, and plenty more. Read through the entire Wikipedia page dedicated to Walmart criticisms if you wish.

We just felt like reminding everyone that while Great Value seems like a, well, great value, it's not. It's owned and controlled by Walmart, and to keep it a "great value", they resort to unethical practices. They import most of their products from China and use their stance as the World's Greatest Seller to force companies to sell things for less, often at a loss for the maker. They use the fruits and vegetables from the bottom of the pile to keep their food cheap. They do whatever it takes to keep the price down so the value seems great.

Cheap, but how long will they last? By Derek Bridges from New Orleans, USA.

It may be cheap, but it's bad for the world economy. It's bad for small businesses. It's bad for food growers and product manufacturers. It's bad for your health. It's bad for everyone except the huge money makers at the top of the Walmart pyramid.

On the bright side, people seem to be waking up. Walmart redesigned their entire Great Value brand in 2009, and while it looks cleaner and nicer, sales went down. People stopped biting. It may seem like a deal saving 22 cents on a can of beans, but who is paying for that 22 cents? That savings comes from somewhere. And isn't it worth it to spend your money on food that tastes how it should, pants that fit well, and products that do their job?

Walmart is making a mockery of the word "value" and we want to remind people of that. Forget about saving a few bucks on groceries and adding value to your checkbook. Add value to the world by voting with your dollar. Vote for a better future.