Wal-Mart Serves Free Ice Cream to an Obese Nation

Give Your Workers Better Health Insurance Instead!

It's free ice cream day at Wal-Mart today! What could be wrong with that?

Plenty.

Wal-Mart wants Americans to stop going to ice cream parlors or restaurants for ice cream. For the second year in a row, Wal-Mart is getting sweet headlines in the media for giving out free ice cream. According to the company, "From 11am until 4pm on Saturday, May 30th 2009, Wal-Mart will be giving away free full-serving sizes of various ice cream products at supercenters around the nation."

Consumers will be able to choose between a Dibs Snack Bag, a Blue Bunny Aspen Frozen Yogurt Granola Bar, or a Ben & Jerry's Flipped Out Cup. This is the second year that Wal-Mart has promoted this ice cream giveaway. Last year, on May 18, 2008, Wal-Mart sponsored what it called "the world's largest ice cream social." Here's how their PR firm described the company's event last year:

"As consumers look to Wal-Mart for savings during tough economic times, they'll find sweet relief on "Sundae," May 18 - and all summer - with the retailer's low prices on ice cream and sundae toppings. In fact, Wal-Mart estimates that its shoppers will spend nearly six times less on a family ice cream social at home when compared to ice cream desserts at many restaurants and ice cream parlors."

Wal-Mart set up this event to steal product market share from local restaurants and ice cream parlors. In 2008, the ice cream giveaway was held at more than 2,500 of the company's supercenters. Wal-Mart said it would have on hand "more than 5,000 ice cream scoopers to build an estimated 1 million free ice cream sundaes, complete with whipped cream and other toppings." This year, in a cost-cutting move, the 5,000 ice cream scoopers are gone, the sundaes are gone, and Wal-Mart is passing out pre-packaged "ice cream products."

"In tough economic times, our customers face tough choices. That's why we are working hard to make sure summer costs less at Wal-Mart," a Wal-Mart spokesman said last year. "Our customers can save more than 50% on their favorite summer desserts - including apple pie a la mode, ice cream cones and brownie sundaes - by getting all the ingredients for a family ice cream social from Wal-Mart instead of taking an expensive trip to an ice cream shop or restaurant." Last year, the giant retailer compared its ice cream offerings to sundaes, cones "and other cool treats" at some restaurants and ice cream shops. According to Wal-Mart: the ingredients for 10 two-scoop ice cream cones cost under $7 at Wal-Mart - the same number of two-scoop cones at a national ice cream shop could cost nearly six times more ($40). According to Wal-Mart researchers, you can get all the ingredients to make 10 brownie sundaes for under $10 at Wal-Mart -- a national restaurant chain might charge nearly five times more ($48.90). Even that most American of desserts -- apple pie a la mode -- for twenty people can be purchased for under $18, while 20 apple pies at a national family restaurant chain could cost over four times more ($79.60).

Despite the fact that Americans are suffering from an epidemic of obesity, hypertension and other heart disease, Wal-Mart is busy pushing ice cream and brownie sundaes. "Finding ways to stretch your dollar doesn't have to mean cutting out tasty pleasures in life like ice cream," Wal-Mart explains. "We're committed to helping families save money and giving them affordable access to the products they need to create memorable moments this summer and beyond."

It would be one thing for Wal-Mart to simply thank shoppers who spend thousands of dollars there by giving them a Blue Bunny frozen yogurt bar once a year. But the retailer is pointedly using this ice cream promotion as a way of steering people away from competitors, like restaurants, ice cream parlors, and other grocery stores. The company would better serve the public by giving its own workers something financially sweet. The company could 'create memorable moments' by giving their workers a summer cash bonus instead of just whipped cream.

Distributing unhealthy food in and of itself is probably nothing novel for Wal-Mart -- but given the fact that tens of thousands of its workers rely on public health programs, like Medicaid, it would be more refreshing to see the company reduce its health insurance copayments for its own employees so that they would not turn to tax-supported health plans by default.

If Wal-Mart is committed to helping families save money, they should start by giving their own workers access to affordable health care. Forget the Blue Bunny bars, Flipped Out Cup, and 5,000 scoopers. Wal-Mart should sweeten the deal for its 'associates' and stop trying to steal sales from ice cream parlors.

Readers can call Wal-Mart customer service at 1-800 Wal-Mart and leave the following message: "Like many other consumers, I'm not going to stop by to claim my free ice cream Flipped Out Cup---but I would like you to take the money it cost to create this national free ice cream day and donate that to your associates health insurance program instead. Taxpayers don't want to pay for the health insurance of your workers. In many states, Wal-Mart employees are the largest corporate users of programs like Medicaid, costing the public millions of dollars. I would rather see Wal-Mart give its own people better health care coverage, than to pick up an frozen treat at your supercenters."

If you go for your free ice cream bar, be sure to stop by Wal-Mart's in-store health clinic for a free cholesterol blood test.

Al Norman is the founder of sprawl-busters. He is the author of Slam-Dunking Wal-Mart. His website is http://www.sprawl-busters.com.

Comments

[IUAlumna]

I agree that Wal-Mart should offer their employees paid health insurance and improve their business practices. But I stillt groan every time the Wal-Mart -as-Devil argument is trotted out . The problem is that the vast majority of those who insist they won't shop at Wal-Mart don't NEED to shop at Wal-Mart. It's easy to be lyrical about Mom and Pop businesses when you're personally picking between which pair of Birkenstocks you prefer. When you're scrambling to make ends meet and lucky to get any shoes at all, the world is a different place. Wal-Mart is often the only discount store in rural areas. Should these people pay more for their goods while suburbanites feel virtuous while shopping at Target? Why? To preserve our image of rural American as made up of small towns with folksy shop owners?

[gallimaufry03]

Walmart is a scourge.
> workers are told (explicitly) to work off the clock (i.e., FOR FREE) or they'll be fired;
> workers are told if they need health insurance, sign up for Medicare
> Medicare is a strained enough resource but when you consider the BILLIONS wm makes, it's OBSCENE that they would not offer health insurance
> 70% of what they sell is from CHINA
> they routinely finagle subsidies from local governments to build those big box stores; small business people are routinely DENIED the same types of subsidies
> the factory workers in China make less than a dollar a day and many are made to live in factory-supplied housing THEY HAVE TO PAY FOR out of those wages

They are anti-American; they've been driving small businesses out of business for YEARS; they drain Medicare resources; they cost tax-payers billions of dollars while making billions in profits; they cheat their workers here and abroad.

If you're really worried about saving a few pennies, don't buy as much crap you don't need.

I've not shopped there in years and never will again. I'll make my own soap and spin my own cotton before I darken their doors.

[LMPE]

I have never been inside a Wal-Mart even once in my entire life. And I hope that it stays that way.

[MikeHermit]

Wal-mart (or as my cousin calls it, Fall-apart) has this nation in its grip. By constantly undercutting the competition because it can by buying in bulk they are both destroying the competition, the moms and pops this nation was strengthened by, as well as makin consumers dependant on Wal-Mart.

Try as I may to get my GF to not shop there she cannot resist. The prices and convinience - lots of goods, lots of nearby locations - keep her going back. No matter how much I badmouth the company.

The bigger I see Wal-Mart getting the more I am convinced tat we need Germany's system. Unfettered capitolism is constantly attacking the pillars of the USA. And the Republicans, in the pockets of corporations, will decry any control of uout-of-control practices as "socialism".

America, you want to make a difference? Boycot Wal-Mart. Shop at a local nursery for garden needs. Eat at a local restaurant instead of a fast food joint or other chain. Shop at local grocery stores instead of box outlets and Wal-Mart. Buy produce from farmer's markets.

Let the monopolies die.

[adoantarel]

Yeah, I gotta say, you overshot the mark on this one. To accuse them of trying to run other stores and restaurants out of business is to point an accusing finger at any store that ever gave out a free sample or held a sale. if they gave away ice cream all year at a loss in an attempt to drive people away from other stores, you MIGHT have an argument. (it'd be legal, though dirty pool in my book.)

I'm no fan of walmart and avoid it as much as possible, but this article makes us all seem like whiners.

[Semaj51]

Wow, let me see.... Company "A" wants to increase its sells by offering its costomers a free sample so that they will have an incentive to shop at Company "A" rather than Company "B". That is basic Business 101.

Would the author of this article have rant so loudly if it was Target which did the same thing?

[cyoohoos]

And, as far as I know, the 'samples' aren't available in traditional Ice Cream Parlors. When did Baskin Robbins start selling dibbs?

Regardless, the ice cream man still visits my neighborhood daily and plenty of kids patronize him. They play all afternoon and have a treat at night. Not exactly drama.

[gallimaufry03]

But Target doesn't. Anyone who thinks Walmart is doing this out of some sense of altruism knows NOTHING about the company.

[electricsquirrel]

Seriously? You've got a good soapbox, and people respect your in-depth understanding and commitment to important issues. Whining about a commercial entity engaging in perhaps the oldest and most banal, yet effective strategy to boost revenues (come-n-get it fer free!) is beneath you, in my opinion.

I don't mean any personal offense whatsoever. I just think that you'd be wise to pick more compelling battles.

[gallimaufry03]

Battling Walmart is compelling. Did you miss the part about how they won't provide health insurance for their THOUSANDS of employees but advise them to go on Medicare? They're not giving away ice cream to show they're great people. They're just trying to get people in the door to sell them cheap crap they don't need, from workers who are made to work off the clock, so that 70% of the proceeds from that cheap crap can go to CHINA!

Boycott Walmart.

[lolyla]

WalMart is not high on my list as far as fair competitive strategies go. But they are offering something for free. Those who would denigrate this effort would probably not be satisfied with WalMart exerting any effort short of shutting down all WalMarts. It's just ice cream.

[gallimaufry03]

It's not just ice cream. If everyone went in JUST to get the ice cream and bought nothing else at all, hey I'm all for that. But Walmart is a plague and should be boycotted.

[Paramendra Bhagat]

You make it sound like Walmart managed to serve icecream to 300 million people.
http://ptechnorati.blogspot.com

[SiberianRat]

Reason number 48,204 to not shop at Wal-Mart.