Sneak Peeks at "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price"

By AlterNet Staff, AlterNet. Posted October 26, 2005.

Robert Greenwald's new documentary film, "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," takes you behind the glitz and into the real lives of workers and their families, business owners and their communities, in an extraordinary journey that will challenge the way you think, feel ... and shop.

Greenwald's documentary rolls out this November, with thousands of house parties, and an array of journalistic reports in the progressive media. (Full disclosure: Robert Greenwald is a member of the board of trustees of the Independent Media Institute, AlterNet's parent organization.) In concert with this media effort, SEIU and hundreds of community and religious groups have organized a "Wal-Mart Week" to expose the truths about the company to the greater public.

Wal-Mart reportedly spends $4 million a day on public relations to obscure its corporate irresponsibility and position it as an American company that truly cares. But even $4 million a day can't hide the vicious business model of the largest corporation on the planet. With 1.4 million employees (larger than GM, Ford, GE and IBM combined), Wal-Mart's $258 billion in annual revenues make up 2 percent of the U.S. G.D.P.

Everyone has seen Wal-Mart's lavish television commercials, but have you ever wondered why Wal-Mart spends so much money trying to convince you it cares about your family, your community, and even its own employees?

What is it hiding?

"Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price" will reveal the mega-retailer's shameful employment practices, its manufacturing relationship with China and much more.

A congressional report in 2004 found that a typical 200-employee Wal-Mart store cost federal taxpayers $420,000 for children's health care, tax credits and deductions for low-income families. That equals about $2,103 per Wal-Mart employee, or an annual welfare bill of $2.5 billion for Wal-Mart's 1.2 million employees in America. What that boils down to is that Americans subsidize Wal-Mart so that its stockholders can continue to reap huge profits.

Watch "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," and help the mother of all big boxes out of business.

For more, check out AlterNet's special coverage of Wal-Mart, and Robert Greenwald's production company, Brave New Films.

Brave New Films is releasing a new video every week leading up to the release of the film on November 13. Check back below each week for the latest video from Brave New Films, and get ready for Wal-Mart Week starting on November 13!

View the trailer »