Culture Jamming Walmart

[Joe Shlabotnik]

“Wally & Marty” were introduced by the corporate retailer in 2006 as “renegade” elves, “synonymous with holiday spirit.” The characters, however, have taken on a life of their own at the hands of protesters, who are attempting to make the two synonymous instead with the fight for better wages and conditions for Walmart employees.

The movement started last year on Twitter, when Walmart tweeted that people should ask for gift suggestions using the hashtag #WalmartElves and promised Walmart staffers would answer. The hashtag quickly spiraled out of corporate control.

In a document released on Scribd, the activists revealed a series of letters sent to Tumblr by Walmart, asserting the company’s trademark. The documents revealed just how closely Walmart is following the protests. The document listed the groups action’s in its complaint, which included replacing official store signage with similar-looking signs saying things like "$8.81 is not a living wage" and "Walmart is using its wealth and power to silence workers demanding a living wage."

In mid-November, shortly after Walmart contacted Tumblr, the protest site walmartelves.tumblr.com was suspended. An alternative parody site, Elves on Strike, now resides in its place. At the moment, the activists also have @ElvesOfWalmart and @ElvesOnStrike_, along with support from similarly minded activist groups on Twitter. Eight accounts remain suspended.

From:http://www.dailydot.com/news/free-walmart-elves-protest/


Visit ELVES ON STRIKE! And print your own subversive advertizing to substitute on Walmart store shelves!

Here's a few samples:

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http://elvesonstrike.tumblr.com/walmartelvesmaterials

[Lifelong Protester]

1. I like these but I'd have to

Go to Wally World to use them!


( BTW- I love your username-- Nobody I talk to knows who that is!)

[ellenrr]

12. ok, I don't know who it is-- who is it?

[Lifelong Protester]

13. I remember him as a fictional baseball player

in the old Charlie Brown books. An elusive baseball card to collect. And Lucy used to always say about Beethoven (Schroeder's passion) "Is he on a baseball card?"

I always use "Joe Schlabotnik" when I need a good "John Doe" for a story I'm telling.

[ellenrr]

14. glad to hear that, I was afraid

he would turn out to be some old-time radical that I should have known about!.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

15. fictional?

Whatever. Just wait, 2014 is gonna be my comeback year!

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[Lifelong Protester]

16. Give 'em heck, Joe!

I'll still be a part of your fan club!!

[Laelth]

2. k&r for labor. n/t

-Laelth

[KoKo]

3. Recommend!

[progressoid]

4. Is there a link to the data behind the $420,000 welfare statement?

Would be nice to have that at the next family gathering.

[pinboy3niner]

6. Here's an article, but you'd have to visit the hyperlinks to find the original source

The American taxpayer that subsidizes the profits of low-wage/benefits employers like Wal-Mart through food stamps and Medicaid. Wal-Mart’s poverty wages force employees to rely on $2.66 billion in government help every year, or about $420,000 per store. In state after state, Wal-Mart employees are the top recipients of Medicaid. As many as 80 percent of workers in Wal-Mart stores use food stamps. This costs the American taxpayer about $1 billion per year!

New Study Finds Wal-Mart Could Easily Afford to Pay 12$ an Hour, So Why Don’t They?
http://www.occupydemocrats.com/new-study-finds-wal-mart-could-easily-afford-to-pay-12-an-hour-so-why-dont-they/

[progressoid]

11. Thanks, I found this too...

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/10/1141724/-Walmart-fuels-inequality-epidemic-taking-advantage-of-our-safety-net

I think it comes from this study...http://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/retail/walmart.pdf

[ErikJ]

7. Some say its $900,000 per store!

One Walmart's Low Wages Could Cost Taxpayers $900,000 Per Year, House Dems Find
05/31/2013


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/31/walmart-taxpayers-house-report_n_3365814.html

[xfundy]

5. "Wally" and "Marty."

Hey, Mal-wart PR team, 1950s much?

[LiberalEsto]

10. We need a Warty and Mally nt

[Voice for Peace]

8. elves on strike

[Voice for Peace]

9. free the walmart elves

https://www.facebook.com/FreeTheWalmartelves/info