A PR Ethical Case Study：
Edel-Mart’s blogging program
Xi Luo PUR6934
The Ethical Event
 Background
 Criticism of Wal-Mart
 Low wages, poor working conditions, inadequate health care
and Wal-Mart anti-union policies.
 Criticism was being amplified by two union-backed groups,
Wal-Mart Watch and Wake Up Wal-Mart.
 To fight the negative news, Wal-Mart hired Edelman and started
to use bloggers in its PR campaign since late 2005.
The Ethical Event
 Media coverage
March 7, 2006—”Wal-Mart Enlists Bloggers in P.R. Campaign” by Michael
Barbaro in New York Times
 Edelman did not encourage bloggers to be transparent.
 Edelman is to blame for propagating Pro-Wal-Mart information.
October 9, 2006—”Wal-Mart's Jim and Laura: The Real Story” by Pallavi
Gogoi in Business Week
 The Wal-Mart Across America blog is a fake grass-roots blog.
 The bloggers were paid by Working Families for Wal-Mart, a fake grassroots advocacy group organized by Edelman.
PRSA Codes of Ethics
 Honesty: “We adhere to the highest standards of accuracy and truth in
advancing the interests of those we represent and in communicating
with the public.”
 Disclosure of Information
 Edelman hid the purpose in the emails contacting bloggers.
 Created corporate-financed blog and used it as grass-roots support for
Wal-Mart.
 Fairness: “We respect all opinions and support the right of free
expression.”
 Free flow of accurate and truthful information
 Rather than participating in an equal dialogue, Edelman intended to
“control conversation by manufacturing it.”
Ethical Theories
 Egoism: Self-Interest
 Use “positive” information to divert the publics’ attention on Wal-Mart’s
misdeed.
 The questionable PR campaign made the relationship between Wal-Mart
and its stakeholders more tense.
 Dialogic Ethics: Communication based on mutual respect and compromise
 Wal-Mart needs to, at least, respond directly to labor unions, and let its
stakeholders know that their voice has been heard.
 Edelman should first ensure the transparency of the public relations
information and help Wal-Mart set up an effective online feedback system.
Social responsibility program
“ CSR is the voluntary actions that a corporation implements as it
pursues its mission and fulfills its perceived obligations to stakeholders,
including employees, communities, the environment, and society as a
whole. (Coombs & Holladay, 2012) ”
 In line with the definition of CSR, a corporation is obligated to
respond to the expectations of stakeholders.
 If there are conflicting interests…
"I pay low wages. I can take advantage of that. We're going to be successful,
but the basis is a very low-wage, low-benefit model of employment.”—Sam
Walton, Wal-Mart founder
 Stakeholder Salience
CSR suggestions
 Stop pretending to be someone else:
 Be clear, saying “I am working for Wal-Mart.”
 CSR activities: Satisfy stakeholders’ expectations in an
alternative way
 Contribute a part of its sales to employees in need as a
subsidy.
 Financial support for health screening and work-related
stress management programs.
 Promote communication during organizational changes
CSR progress model
 1.Scanning and monitoring: Blogs and other social media have the
potential to gather information and do environmental scanning.
 2.Conducting formative research: Select CSR concerns, identify
expectation gap, cultivate dialogue.
 3.Creating the CSR initiative: Contact the employees to arrange a
meeting about their concerns.
 4.Communicating the CSR initiative: Conduct SOSC analysis and
TARES test to satisfy professional code of conduct.
 5.Conducting an evaluation and providing feedback: Reach the
objectives and bring benefits to society as well as the corporation
itself.
Evaluation
 Determine whether the CSR process and outcome objectives are met.
 Determine Process objectives: CSR activities
 Determine Outcome objectives: Return on Investment
 Financial Benefits of Wal-Mart
 Job satisfaction of employees
 Amount of positive stories from mainstream media and social
networking website
 Amount of positive response from labor unions
 Amount of annual lawsuits
Reference

Barbaro, M. (2006, March 7). Wal-Mart Enlists Bloggers in P.R. Campaign. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/technology/07blog.html?pagewanted=
all&_r=1&

Coombs, W. T., & Holladay, S. J. (2012) Managing corporate social responsibility: A
communication approach. (2012). Marketing Weekly News, 7-8, 21, 47-48, 91, 103

Gower, K. K. (2008). Legal and ethical considerations for public relations. Long
Grove, Ill: Waveland Press, 1-19.

Gogoi, P. (2006, October 9). Wal-Mart's Jim and Laura: The Real Story. Retrieved
fromhttp://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-10-09/wal-marts-jim-and-laurathe-real-storybusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice

Is Wal-Mart good for America?. Retrieved from
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/inside.html