Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price
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| Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price | |
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 Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price film poster |
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| Directed by | Robert Greenwald |
| Produced by | Jim Gilliam |
| Starring | James Cromwell |
| Distributed by | Brave New Films |
| Release date(s) | November 4, 2005 (USA) |
| Running time | 95 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ~ US$1,500,000 |
| IMDb profile | |
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is a 2005 documentary film by director Robert Greenwald. The film presents an unfavorable picture of Wal-Mart's business practices through interviews with former employees, small business owners, and footage of Wal-Mart executives. The film intersperses statistics between the interviews to provide large-scale examinations beyond personal opinions. The documentary was released on DVD on November 4, 2005.
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[edit] Synopsis
While the film begins with footage of Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott praising the corporation at a large employee convention, the film spends a majority of its running time on personal interviews. A variety of criticisms of the corporation emerge from these interviews. These include alleging anti-union practices, claims that Wal-Mart has a detrimental impact on small businesses, asserts that Wal-Mart has insufficient environmental protection policies, and claims Wal-Mart has a poor record on worker's rights in the United States and internationally. The film ends with interviews of community leaders that have prevented Wal-Mart stores from being built in their communities and an exhortation for others to do the same.
[edit] Reaction
The film has been endorsed and promoted by, among others, MoveOn.org and unions through the Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch campaigns. Wal-Mart has disputed the factual accuracy of the statements made in the film. Wal-Mart:The High Cost of Low Price has been credited as one of the reasons that Wal-Mart created a public relations "war room" in late 2005 to respond to criticism. Their most notable effort was to release, on the same day as the release of The High Cost of Low Price, a DVD film defending its practices, titled Why Wal-Mart Works; and Why That Drives Some People C-R-A-Z-Y. (Ironically, the maker of Why Wal-Mart Works, Ron Galloway, later turned against the company. In April 2007, Galloway was quoted in The New Yorker as saying, "They just instituted a wage cap for long-term employees—people making between thirteen and eighteen dollars an hour. It’s a form of accelerated attrition. They can’t expect me to defend that.").[1]
It is currently number 25 on Rotten Tomatoes' top films of 2005 with a rating of 92%.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price at the Internet Movie Database
- Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price at Rotten Tomatoes
| Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. |
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Key People: Sam Walton | David Glass | Lee Scott | Jim C. Walton | Bud Walton | S. Robson Walton | Douglas Daft |
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Assets: Amigo Supermarkets | ASDA | Sam's Club | Wal-Mart Discount Stores | Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market | Wal-Mart Supercenter | Walmex |
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Annual Revenue: $288 billion USD ( |
