Wal-Mart Plans New York Ad Blitz

The NY Post is reporting today that Wal-Mart, looking to generate popular support for its incursion into the city market, is readying an ad blitz on land, sea and air. Breaking from its tradition – and we’ve already stressed many times that everyone should watch how adaptable the company will become – Wal-Mart is planning to place ads in 9 community newspapers (which is ironic considering its effect on those papers). More ominously, it also plans to “expand the campaign to ethnic newspapers, radio and television as well.” The ad campaign’s goal is to stress, in each borough, all of the wonderful things the city has to offer except – “everyday low prices.”

In addition, Wal-Mart has also begun holding meetings with local reporters who, undoubtedly flattered, will be seen as more likely to soften criticism of the company’s less than flattering labor practices.

The Post also reports that the company has yet to find suitable sites (disingenuously, we might add). As Mia Masten says, “We still don’t have a site … But we are still interested,” This is, of course, poppycock since the Richmond Valley location on S.I. is very much theirs and the developer has been trying to negotiate a site plan that accommodates the views of City Planning as well as Wal-Mart. In typical big box fashion, neither the store nor the developer wants to publicly be identified with the site before they are ready to go full speed ahead.