MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

In this article entitle “Walmart’s Jim and Laura The real story”, a couple named Jim and Laura On September 27, 2006, created a blog known as “Wal-Marting Across America” where it featured the journey of Jim and Laura and their adventure from Las Vegas to Georgia.  The couple traveled in an RV and stayed in Walmart store parking lots for free since they thought it would be a good idea to rent an RV and visit their children, one attending college in Pennsylvania, the other in North Carolina, and save some money by parking for free at Walmart stores .

When Walmart became aware of this they asked the couple in return of the stay in their parking lot they would have to write about the amazing things that Walmart is doing in their blog. So , in the different they Walmart locations Jim and Laura  would interview employees about their jobs at that particular location. It turned out to be that all the employees that were being interviewed loved their job which became suspicious due to the many issues that Walmart had towards the employees.

Many criticism arose, one especially by Jonathan Reese who stated that the employees they hired were fake.  Reese believed so due to the fact that Walmart had fought hard against a Chicago city ordinance that would raise the minimum wage to $10 by 2010, and threaten to sue if the ordinance went into effect. Jim and Laura told a story who many found credible and others did not. Walmart would give the  couple many benefits such as pick up their gas tabs, set up blog sites, and pay Laura a freelance fee for her entries.

The publicity fro Gregg Thompson was the fact that his son , contracted cardiopulmonary which needed expensive surgery. The couple claims that Walmart Blue Cross Insurance Take care and paid for $ 300,00 of medical bills.