UPDATE: Image removed. Please see my comments below.
Wal-Mart is the George W. Bush of retail giants. Both face significant image problems, have come under mounting criticism, have less than stellar human rights records, and have little tolerance for those who might dare to oppose their policies. (For greater detail on the company’s shoddy practices, see Andrew Gumbel’s fine article, “Wal-Mart: Is This the Worst Company in the World?�) Recently, a Conyers, Georgia businessman has learned firsthand how aggressive and intolerant the retailer can be:
Wal-Mart Parodist Sues to Sell Products
Computer store owner Charles Smith is the first to admit the T-shirts and mugs he designed to lampoon Wal-Mart Stores Inc. are in bad taste.
But Smith had wanted to make a point by comparing the giant retail company to the Nazis. So he created slogans playing off the Bentonville, Ark., firm’s familiar logo, including “I {heart} WAL*OCAUST. They have family values and their alcohol, tobacco and firearms are 20% off.”
Wal-Mart wasn’t amused. The company launched a legal battle by writing a cease-and-desist demand that led Smith to file suit Monday in federal court in Atlanta — with the help of Ralph Nader’s legal aid group, Public Citizen — for the right to continue selling the products.
At stake, Smith said, is his right to publicly criticize the world’s largest retailer — or any other company.
“It’s about free speech and the right to comment on corporations and their images and their trademarks,” said Paul Alan Levy, the Public Citizen lawyer representing Smith. “Just because the trademark owner doesn’t like [it] doesn’t mean it isn’t a permissible use of language.” more…
Of course, Wal-Mart begs to differ, and—despite the fact that Smith sold only one t-shirt in the five months he operated the website, www.walocaust.com—the Goliath felt threatened or put out enough to unleash their corporate lawyers on David, a.k.a. Charles Smith. The irony, no doubt, is that, in their bull-headed and bullying approach, Wal-Mart will likely create greater demand for Mr. Smith’s products and greater attention to his cause than if they had simply let the sleeping dog of discontent lie. One would think that the company, like President Bush, would learn. Then again, to quote an old Arabian proverb, “arrogance diminishes wisdom.�
Kmareka.com 
great find!
Man, I am Wal-Mart’s biggest detractor, but this may step over the line. The Holocaust was truly one of the most horrific events in human history, and I’ve read a lot of history. Wal-Mart is definitely evil; but their degree of evil falls well short of the Holocaust. I hate to see the real thing trivialized. I’ve read about the union movement early in the 20th century. By way of example, I’ve read about union-busting by corporate goons, about the deaths caused because people simply wanted to organize, but even that does not come close to the evil perpetrated by the Third Reich.
I believe that this is too extreme. Clever and eye-catching, but too extreme. It will do more harm than good by alienating people in the center of the political spectrum. And I would hazard that it’s illegal. It’s not a simple question of freedom of speech; not all speech is protected. It uses a corporate trade mark in a defamatory, and possibly libelous fashion, which is what probably makes it illegal. Not saying I disapprove of the message; I’m just saying it goes too far.
Sorry.
Publishing that large image is in very poor taste and diminishes the quality of your website. Ben’s right when he says it’s over the line and trivializes the Holocaust.
Mike, I appreciate your concern. I also had qualms about publishing the image and after discussing it with David decided to remove it. However, I believe the image is free speech and should be protected by the first amendment. The thing that outrages me most about this is that Walmart is also demanding that Charlie Smith sign the domain name “walocaust.com” over to them, presumably so that they can suppress it. If Walmart is able to prevent people from creating domain names that start with “wal” and morph into other words, that is truly scary.
I also think the reason Walmart is going so ballistic about this is because there is just enough of a parallel that it sticks. Grossly exaggerated? Yes. In bad taste? Yes. Completely unrelatable? That’s the question that the image raises, and provocatively so.
Agreed that it is free speech and protected. I didn’t say it shouldn’t be allowed. I just thought it beneath the quality of your site. Apparently you concur. I’m a strong supporter of free speech, as is just about anyone interested in blogs and the Internet. I think some often hold up the first amendment as though others don’t have a right to complain. The Dixie Chicks, for instance, can say what they want about the President. But I also can protest and stop listening/buying their music. We have a right to say what we want; we don’t have a right to insist everyone listen.
Which brings me the issue of the NJ teacher. Students are required to attend school and are expected to listen and participate. We as teachers must be very careful that we provide a constructivist environment. If we truly want critical thinking, we will not determine the conclusion for them (Bush is a war criminal) and ask them to defend a position for or against. Instead we will have them study positions, backgrounds, actions, etc, and have them synthesize and defend their own conclusions. Comparing the President to Hitler, as did another teacher in Colorado, will definitely incite, but won’t necessarily serve as a springboard for critical thinking. Some teachers use the “stimulating critical thinking” excuse. As I mentioned in a previous post, it would be just as inappropriate to ask students to support or oppose Clinton’s Marxist beliefs. Clinton is no more a Marxist than Bush is a war criminal, and to lead students to either conclusion is an injustice and unprofessional.
On behalf of their company, Wal-Mart executives have every right to challenge in court those who infringe upon legal trademarks. It doesn’t mean they’ll win; the courts will decide. But they have the right, and for the company’s best interests, the obligation.
Well maybe this page will allow us all to point fun at George W – http://www.caricatureking.com/fun.php There are some other world leaders you can have fun with as well!