The Visa Diaries

Ok, so I went back to the gym, and there was a new issue of New York Magazine* – hallelujah, I said, because it sure beats Sports Illustrated, and all the New Yorkers and glam mags were taken. So I tucked in. This week, it was an article about how Walmart hired some people to sex up its advertising, and then immediately got cold feet when the ads actually started getting, er, sexier. Like, duu-uh! They fired everybody involved, and now its lawsuits galore, and back to their old ads from dullsville.

This article only reminded me how much Walmart sucks, and not because I am dying for “sexy” ads from them. We all know about how they strangle suppliers, strangle smaller independent shops, and censor products that don’t agree with their morals. That’s all pretty sucky.

But the number one reason they suck in my mind is because they reduce everything to a price tag, and more for less is always a good thing. The first time I went to Walmart was this December 22. Even in the midst of holiday rush and cheer, Walmart was the most depressing, drab store I have even seen. The store did not bother with ambience – a completely undecorated store could at least have been painted it nice colors, but this seemed purposefully dowdy – nor with employees who were civil and helpful. Instead of a welcoming environment and human interaction, there were piles and piles of cut-rate clothing and electronics. Everything stripped down to its most utilitarian, then made ugly. Blech – what kind of life is that?

Walmart is an extreme example of our hyper-consumerist society gone mad – more more more schlock schlock schlock sold in a depressing inhuman environment. Quantity not quality. Which apart from the sociological aspect is of course having profound environmental impact as well (as recently discussed by the NYTimes, specifically relating to fashion). Why do we always want more? Why is what we have never good enough, until somebody else has repurposed it and wants to sell it back to us at a premium?
Those questions are clearly part of a much longer discussion. But looking on the bright side, maybe Walmart is going to do what no amount of prodding from “good” or “green” sources could do – make me see the folly, and the unattractiveness, down the road of endless consumption. Maybe Walmart’s complete grossness with make consumption-till-you-drop less cool. Maybe conservation and making-do will become the new black…

* I am not affiliated or paid off by New York Magazine in any way. Though I am going to demand that I should be.