Report Finds 100+ Walmart.com Products Labeled “Made In U.S.A.” That Were Made Elsewhere – Consumerist

This should surprise no one!! Walmart's marketing ploy back when they first arrived in the Buffalo area was the "Buy America" slogan.  Although I remember seeing signage such as "Made in American" in their stores, I couldn't remember finding anything of the sort. As noted by a story I highlighted in 2013, the "Buy America" schtick had turned out to be a sham.

The program raised questions about how effectively Wal-Mart monitors its import standards and whether the "Buy America" program to create jobs in the United States that Wal-Mart's late founder, Sam M. Walton, started in 1985 was more an advertising gimmick than a substantial plan. Acknowledges Some Mistakes

While Mitchell's piece talked numbers, "the company announced that it would purchase an additional $50 billion worth of domestic goods over the next decade,,, but measured against Walmart's galactic size, it's not.  An additional $5 billion a year amounts to only 1.5 percent of what Walmart currently spends on inventory." Morran, looks at, labeling, ie.false advertising.

While there is no official review process required for labeling a product as “Made in the U.S.A.,” a company can get into legal trouble for misusing that label, as doing so may constitute false advertising. A new report from an advertising watchdog group claims that Walmart’s website has more than 100 examples of products incorrectly marketed as made in America.

According to a letter [PDF] recently sent by the group Truth In Advertising to Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, “Walmart’s website is mired in USA labeling errors.”
,,,
“False made in USA labeling on Walmart’s website has misled consumers looking to purchase American-made products,’’ said TINA.org Executive Director Bonnie Patten. “The largest retailer in the world should have made sure its American-made claims were accurate before affixing made in USA labels on the products. Until Walmart cleans up this mess, consumers cannot rely on Walmart with regard to where a product is really made when shopping on the site.”

Report Finds 100+ Walmart.com Products Labeled “Made In U.S.A.” That Were Made Elsewhere – Consumerist

Walmart's Latest Scheme to Replace the Middle Class With an Underclass Forced to Buy its Shoddy Goods | Alternet

I do not shop at Wal-Mart, I haven't now for 3 years. It is a conscious decision first based on human rights issues and the shody merchandise being sold. (I spent 3 times as much on clothes and footwear that didn't last.) Eventually I began to dislike their business practices and their business model as I watched them run "local" small businesses into the ground and dictate terms of what product they would contract for (Sylvania light bulbs).

Almost 30 years ago, as the U.S. was bleeding jobs, Walmart launched a "Buy America" program and started hanging "Made in America" signs in its 750 stores. It was a marketing success, cementing the retailer's popularity in the country's struggling, blue-collar heartland. A few years later, NBC's Dateline revealed the program to be a sham . Sure, Walmart was willing to buy U.S.-made goods — so long as they were as cheap as imports, which, of course, they weren't. Dateline found that Walmart's sourcing was in fact rapidly shifting to Asia.

This year, Walmart is back with a new "Buy America" program. In January, the company announced that it would purchase an additional $50 billion worth of domestic goods over the next decade. This week, Walmart is convening several hundred suppliers, along with a handful of governors, for a summit on U.S. manufacturing .

This sounds pretty substantial, but in fact it's just a more sophisticated and media savvy version of Walmart's hollow 1980s Buy America campaign. For starters, $50 billion over a decade may sound huge at first, but measured against Walmart's galactic size, it's not. An additional $5 billion a year amounts to only 1.5 percent of what Walmart currently spends on inventory.

Worse, very little of this small increase in spending on American-made goods will actually result in new U.S. production and jobs. Most of the projected increase will simply be a byproduct of Walmart's continued takeover of the grocery industry. Most grocery products sold in the U.S. are produced here. As Walmart expands its share of U.S. grocery sales — it now captures 25 percent, up from 6 percent in 1998 — it will buy more U.S. foods. But this doesn't mean new jobs, because other grocers are losing market share and buying less. What it does mean is lower wages. As I reported earlier this year, Walmart's growing control of the grocery sector is pushing down wages throughout food production.

Walmart's Latest Scheme to Replace the Middle Class With an Underclass Forced to Buy its Shoddy Goods | Alternet