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Wal-Mart has been using wood from protected Russian forests in it's products says The Environmental Investigation Agency in a detailed report. This is in large part to Chinese suppliers using less expensive wood to meet Wal-Mart's unrealistic pricing structures. At first the company simply turned a blind eye to the practice, but because of growing negative publicity, the company has turned to the largest privately owned public relations firm, Edelman.
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STILL, as Wal-Mart recently discovered, there can be such a thing as too much information. Six women brought a sex-discrimination lawsuit against the company in 2001 that was broadened this year to a class of about 1.6 million current and former female employees. Lawyers for the women have said that Wal-Mart has the ability to use its human-resources database to calculate back pay for the plaintiffs as well as to determine whether women were fairly promoted and paid. The judge hearing the case, which is pending in a federal court in San Francisco, has agreed.
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Stephen Quinn, Wal-Mart's chief marketing officer, said Wal-Mart will woo "price-sensitive" shoppers at all income levels. Future ads will use examples contributed by customers. Wal-Mart declined to disclose spending on the new campaign. The company's U.S. advertising spending for the six months through June 30 was $162 million, according to TNS Media Intelligence.
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Mona Williams, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart, said the company had "no hidden agenda," although it has not supported journalism in the past. "We've really been in the spotlight and I think that's made us especially sensitive to the need for balanced coverage," Williams said. "It doesn't matter if the subject is Wal-Mart or something else. You just aren't going to have that unless different perspectives are represented." NPR's underwriter announcements for Wal-Mart include a claim that the store brings "communities job opportunities, goods and services and support for neighborhood programs."[18]
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Wal-Mart is more than just the world's largest retailer. It is an economic force, a cultural phenomenon and a lightning rod for controversy. It all started with a simple philosophy from founder Sam Walton: Offer shoppers lower prices than they get anywhere else. That basic strategy has shaped Wal-Mart's culture and driven the company's growth.
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Wal-Mart has long been recognized as a corporate leader in the area of disaster relief. The company in 2005 helped the victims of Hurricane Katrina by donating more than $32 million in cash to aid emergency relief efforts, which included $2 million in contributions to the Red Cross. Last year, Wal-Mart provided more than $2 million in disaster relief funds to assist with everything from floods and tornadoes to wildfires and winter storms nationwide. A long-standing partnership between Wal-Mart and the American Red Cross has made many of these efforts possible.
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