Protesting Wal-Mart? You can hurt them much more deeply if you do it quietly.

I've read that there will be a big extra special super-duper anti-wal-mart protest in Charlottetown this weekend.

What ever happened to 'just don't shop there'?

I can pretty much guarantee such gatherings will fly over the radar of the people who actually do shop at wal-mart.. seems more of a self-satisfaction exercise for the people who don't shop there already.

The sentiment is in the right place, to be sure, wal-mart scares the daylights out of me, but the implementation won't strike me as something that will accomplish much. Why not instead print up concise, easy-to-read explanations of wal-mart's deceptive low prices on bottom end items, to let people in on the fact that they're not really saving money by shopping there even though the big advertized prices seem to be lower.

On the other hand, a smart and silent union card campaign could actually get someplace. Having a big red sign that says "Hey Wal-Mart, we're gonna be causing trouble, better be on the look-out" won't.
Technorati Tags: WalMart, Activism, Labour, Unions