Who remembers when Wal-Mart used to advertise their products were "MADE in the USA"?

Question

I am 29 and barely remember the commercials...so I am guessing it has been 20 years or so. WalMarts demand for cheap products has forced manufacturers to send their jobs out of the country where labor costs are a fraction of what they are in the US. To compete, other retailers must also find product sources outside of the country, sending even more jobs abroad. A whole industry has exploded because of stuff being too cheap..storage buildings..its a "buy more crap we dont need just because its cheap" attitude and pay someone to keep our old stuff..insanity! Another industry has been eliminated, repair shops. Why have it fixed when a new one is cheap. I hear radio commercials about debt consultation services all day. IT ISN'T THE CREDIT CARD COMPANIES FAULT....ITS YOURS MR. 40K IN CREDIT CARD BILLS. Thanks to the bull crap advertisers throw at you all day...folks think they are entitled to the all the shiny new junk coming in from china everyday even if they cant afford it.

i suppose you could call it a statement....i will sum it up in one comment...WAL-MART IS RUNNING THIS COUNTRY INTO THE GROUND...oh and corporate greed too...50 years ago the average ceo or president of a company made 5-10 times what the average worker did......it is closer to 500 times the salary now....no they dont deserve it...could they get perks? YES....do they deserve millions in salary and bonus a year? NO...oh and illegal immigrants are ruining the country too

Answer 1

The key word here is "was" made in USA. Walmart is like every other merchant....SHOW ME THE MONEY. They are also now doing e-checks and have discontinued lay-away.

Answer 2

Is there a questionn there or is this a statement?

Any way I agree to some degree.

I do remember the Made in the USA campaigns in the 80's but it has disappeared. The number of american made items has significantly decreased.

I think the change came shortly after Sam Walton passed away and the company was taken over by his sons (I think)

I must admit, I do shop at WalMart for the cheap disposable items and the generics.

Wayne

Answer 3

That's funny. Those ads ran about the same time as the Big 3 automakers "Buy American" ads ran.

Notice they don't run those anymore either. Because the Big 3 have outsourced all the parts and bankrupted hundreds of American manufacturers to keep all the good pay and benefits for their own workers.

Now the rest of us HAVE to shop at WalMart because we can't afford to shop anywhere else.

WalMart has only given us Americans what we want, cheap prices. It is our own fault we no longer have real jobs in this country.

Answer 4

I remember. I also remember when cable first came out and you had to pay for TV, instead of the three affiliates for free - but they advertised that even though you paid for it, they ran it without commercials - Hah! I was in a test market and nobody else I know seems to remember that.

Fact is, things change and Wal-Mart is far from an American made any more, but it got them their market share. They are after the money, like any business. But, it is also the consumers' fault. I see lots of WalMart complainers, but then I see them supporting them by shopping there.

Which do we want - cheaper or American supportive?

I don't spend money at WalMart myself.

Answer 5

Wake-Up Wal-Mart Blog
http://blog.wakeupwalmart.com/

Wal-Mart has repeatedly violated U.S. child labor laws and profited from overseas child labor abuses.

A recent investigation revealed children, some only 11 years old, were making Wal-Mart clothes in a Bangladesh factory. The children report being routinely slapped and beaten, forced to work 12 to 14 hours a day, often seven days a week, for wages as low as 6 and a half cents an hour.

In the United States, Wal-Mart's own internal audit found 1,371 instances in which minors worked too late at night, during school hours, or too many hours in a day. It also found 60,767 instances of workers missing breaks and 15,705 instances where employees were forced to work and miss meal times.

Despite all of this, Wal-Mart refuses to adopt a zero tolerance policy on child labor! Our children deserve better from Wal-Mart. This holiday season, tell Wal-Mart to adopt a zero tolerance policy on child labor.

Sign the Tell Wal-Mart: Zero Tolerance on Child Labor Petition

Answer 6

I remember the commercials too and it was about 20 yrs ago. Walmart used to pride itself on selling on Made in the USA products...no more eh?

Answer 7

I never knew that they ever advertised their products as "made in the U.S."