IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2007

CONTACT: Meghan Scott
(202) 721-8014

WAKEUPWALMART.COM LAUNCHES NEW TV AD TODAY IN 20 STATES AS PART OF $1.5 MILLION “HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS” CAMPAIGN

NEW TV AD CAMPAIGN ASKS HOLIDAY SHOPPERS, “DOESN’T WAL-MART HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO DO BETTER?”

Washington, DC - WakeUpWalMart.com, America’s campaign to change Wal-Mart, today launches its “Doesn’t Wal-Mart Have a Responsibility to Do Better?” nationwide TV ad campaign. The hard-hitting 30 -second TV ad calls on Wal-Mart to take responsibility for the safety of its products - 70 percent of which come from China. (Full script below.)

The ad comes just one day after a CNN report that Wal-Mart brand Christmas lights, made in China, contained the highest levels of lead of any of those tested, and is part of the $1.5 million dollar “Hope for the Holidays” campaign challenging Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer and America’s largest private employer, to change into a responsible company that pays fair wages, provides affordable healthcare, and ensures the safety of its products.

Wal-Mart is the number one importer of goods from China. More than 70 percent of goods on Wal-Mart’s shelves come from China. In the past year, more than 25 dangerous products from China have been pulled from Wal-Mart’s shelves. These product recalls - ranging from baby bibs to children’s toys to dog biscuits -- have Americans thinking twice as they do their holiday shopping.

A recent national poll conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates reveals that 60 percent of frequent Wal-Mart shoppers are uneasy buying Chinese goods. That unease is driven by concern over the safety of products made in China, a country where workers are exploited, human rights violated, and child labor still exists. Seventy-two percent of Wal-Mart shoppers said they are concerned with the safety of Chinese products.

When Americans learn that 70 percent of the products on Wal-Mart shelves come from China, nearly half say that it gives them a less favorable view of the retail giant. Fully 80 percent of respondents said that Wal-Mart “is wrong to buy seventy percent of its merchandise from China.”

Before heading to the stores this holiday season, customers can check the entire list of Chinese products pulled from Wal-Mart shelves at www.wakeupwalmart.com/recalls.

The “Doesn’t Wal-Mart Have A Responsibility to Do Better?” ad campaign will air in 20 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Georgia, New Hampshire, Iowa, and 35 media markets.

The ad can be viewed at http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/holidays/ .

TV AD SCRIPT

If you’re thinking of shopping at Wal-Mart this holiday season,
there’s a seventy percent chance the gifts you buy come from communist China…
…where workers are exploited, human rights violated;
where millions of dangerous toys, tainted snack foods, and other unsafe products are made.
So when you hear Wal-Mart brag about low prices,
think about where seventy percent of their products come from and why it’s so cheap,
and ask yourself whether Wal-Mart has a responsibility to do better.
Learn more at wakeupwalmart.com.
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