IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 17, 2007

CONTACT: Meghan Scott (202) 721-8014

Pastors Call on Wal-Mart to Be a Better Neighbor in New TV Ad

Ad Will Run in Conjunction with More Than Forty Candlelight Vigils Across the Country To Call on Wal-Mart to Do Better by Our Families and Our Communities This Christmas

Washington, DC – WakeUpWalMart.com, America’s campaign to change Wal-Mart, today announced a new national television ad featuring two prominent Baptist ministers. In the ad, Reverend Charles Foster Johnson and Reverend Markel Hutchins speak of all that Wal-Mart has been given, and of the retail giant’s responsibility to be a better neighbor this holiday season by paying a fair wage, providing affordable healthcare, and ensuring the safety of the goods it sells.

The ad is the third in a series of television and radio spots that have run in more than 50 markets across the country, as part of the third annual “Hope for the Holidays” campaign.

“The Bible says, ‘To whom much is given, much is required,’” says Reverend Charles Foster Johnson in the ad. “Wal-Mart rakes in over $21,000 in profit every single minute…This Christmas, let’s make Wal-Mart be a better neighbor to us all.” (Full script below).

The ad, called “Neighbor,” goes up today in 35 markets across the country. To reinforce the ad’s message, community and religious leaders in more than 40 cities and towns will hold candlelight vigils outside of Wal-Mart stores, offering prayers for Wal-Mart to change and handing out “Think before you shop” holiday cards to shoppers.

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

“NEIGHBOR” AD SCRIPT

The Bible says, “to whom much is given, much is required.”

Wal-Mart rakes in over twenty-one thousand dollars in profit every single minute.

A corporation that big has the moral responsibility to do right by its customers and employees and all humanity.

But Wal-Mart violates labor laws, denies employees affordable health care, buys seventy percent of its products from communist China.

This Christmas, let’s make Wal-Mart be a better neighbor to us all.

REVEREND MARKEL HUTCHINS BIO

An ordained Baptist minister, former Methodist pastor and sought-after preacher, Rev. Hutchins is Chairman and CEO of Markel Hutchins Ministries, delivering timely sermons to churchgoers across the United States of America and abroad.
To compliment and enable his social commitment and responsibilities, Rev. Hutchins is Managing Principal and Chief Executive Officer of MRH, LLC, a full service management consulting firm that focuses on matters of diversity, public affairs and crisis management.
Rev. Hutchins has and continues to serve number of boards, committees and commissions for organizations and institutions such as the DeKalb County, Georgia Board of Education; the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; Pulling America's Communities Together (PACT); the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition; and the Catalyst Project. In addition to having held numerous leadership positions, Hutchins has received countless honors including an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree

REVEREND CHARLES FOSTER JOHNSON BIO

Charles Foster Johnson presently serves as Visiting Instructor of Preaching at the McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University in Atlanta, and Interim Pastor of the Immanuel Baptist Church of Nashville.
Throughout his thirty year pastoral ministry he has served churches in Mississippi, Kentucky and Texas, most recently with the Trinity Baptist Church of San Antonio where he helped build a multi-cultural congregation.
He is a frequent preacher and speaker in Baptist circles. He has written articles for numerous publications, and has made guest appearances on several cable network news shows. He is involved in civic and denominational life, and was named a “Baptist of the Year” by the Baptist Center for Ethics in 2004.