2 Introduction
by hundreds of solar panels as the sun begins to set over rolling hills in the background: “Or be an engineer, helping Walmart conserve energy!” Then Anthony is restocking paper towels in the aisles. “Even today, when our store does well, I earn quarterly bonuses!” The spot finishes the way it began, with Anthony in the middle of the aisle looking earnestly into the camera: “When people look at me, I hope they see someone working their way up.” The Walmart logo appears as a woman’s voice says, “Opportunity: That’s the real Walmart.” Anthony Thompson, 19 years old in the video, really does, or did, work at Walmart, one of many employees at the massive company who have appeared in its advertisements. In The Walmart Way, Don Soderquist—a former vice chairman and COO of the company— describes the “ingenious idea” of the company’s marketing department to “use our own associates instead of professional models in our TV ads and monthly circulars.” It was a hit: We tried it. Our associates did a great job, and it was a huge success. The associates who appeared in TV spots and circulars became celebrities in their communities, and Wal-Mart associates from all over the country wanted to be in the commercials.2
Watching the advertisement, it is hard not to wonder what the “fake Walmart” is against which the company feels compelled to offer the “real.” And it is only a short step from here to an appreciation of the fact that the advertisement, more than anything, indicates the success that an earlier generation of social change advocates have had connecting the Walmart brand with low wages and unjust working conditions. From this perspective, Anthony’s advertisement is just one more battle in a decades-long war for the marginal customer’s heart and mind and dollar.3 A different sort of insight is possible, though, if we get to know people like Anthony and come to understand the somewhat complicated, sometimes conflicted feelings that they have about places like Walmart. At the time of the commercial, Anthony believed