The Wal Mart Kerfuffle - A. Richman vs M. Rowe. (another rant by ME) I had several conversations with a good friend today. We talked about work and concerts and cars and trucks and the holiday. We talked about our pets, my love of Leinenkugels beer and her dislike of beer in general. We talked about the weather and TV shows.... But the topic that really lit my britches on fire was the one about Wal-Mart and their so called celebrity endorsers. Her stance was that she was extremely disappointed in Mike Rowe for narrating a Wal-Mart commercial (which is airing in frequent rotation on Animal Planet at the moment) in which Wal-Mart pledges $250 BILLION (yeah, with a B) to help jump start American manufacturing buy purchasing made in the U.S.A products to sell in their stores. Her stance was clear cut - Wal-Mart is the enemy of our economy, they are driving mom and pop shops out of business and they are terrible to their employees. Mike Rowe is the publicly appointed leader of the blue collar worker nation and he tarnished his reputation for associating himself with the likes of Wal-Mart. I sighed... I have had this conversation so many times with so many people it is starting to hurt my brain. marketmenot/walmart-work-is-a-beautiful-thing-commercial/ businessinsider/dirty-jobs-host-mike-gets-death-threats-2014-2 The hypocrisy of her statement is that when I came into her dwelling, she was watching an episode of Man Vs. Food with Adam Richman. We had an entire conversation previous to the Mike Rowe Wal-Mart debate about how much she liked Adams show and she was sad that there were no new episodes being made. She talked at length about her favorite episodes and the times he failed and succeeded. Having watched the show several times myself, I knew exactly what she was talking about. She was up on the recent news about his new show being put on hold and was rather upset by this. Apparently she was really looking forward to seeing a new show with A slimmer trimmer Adam as she so affectionately pointed out. Apparently she was not disappointed in him for hocking Wal-mart steaks to the masses twice an hour on several major TV networks. theguardian/tv-and-radio/2014/jul/02/man-vs-food-adam-richman-thinspiration-rant-man-finds-food Naturally, I am one to pick a fight (*gasp*), so I asked her to point out why in her mind, Mike was so bad for his alliance, and Adam was so good. Both did/do Wal-Mart commercials, but only one is a paid representative spokesman for the company. She seemed to have an illogical disdain for the man who lent his voice for a commercial about supporting the American workforce than she did for the man who was using his face and grill to hock premium steaks a low Wal-Mart prices - the same man who took to social media to lambast his fans and critics with hateful statements about eating disorders and body image (yeah, hocking steaks with one hand while telling critics of his outburst to grab a razor blade and draw a bath. I doubt anyone will miss you with the other - Stay classy my friend). She must have sensed which pony I was about to back in this debate (sorry Adam, Mike is my boy...) and she clammed up pretty quickly. Her only rebuttal was Adam apologized for his statements, Mike did not. Which started me thinking...(a dangerous thing, especially when others are around...) So why would an entire cross section of educated America go all crazy-nuts on Mike for narrating a commercial for Wal-Mart (to the point of death threats) with a positive message in which they were pledging financial support to spark the return of our nations manufacturing industry - basically a $250 Billion dollar PO to the American Economy, but completely turn a blind eye to the indiscretions of Adam Richman for physically hocking Wal-Mart steaks in the flesh while slinging hateful remarks to the same American cross section? Why are more people not outraged at his actions? Was my friend right? Was Adams apology enough? Uh - Not in my world. Apologies are the socially required actions of a person who did not think before they spoke. Apologies are the boo-boo band aid that we are conditioned to believe from an early age will fix any sort of check our mouth writes but our ass cant cash. Basically, apologies are worthless - dont mean a damn thing. You can strike the words from the record, but you cant make the jury unhear what was said. Sure, Adams new show has been put on hiatus until this kerfuffle blows over, but the general entertainment hungry public loves a scandal (Even when scandals are fabricated (Rowe) and minimized (Richman)) and his show will get on the air. Eventually his show will get on TV because now it has a buzz about it and more people will tune in than ever before. More hype and more buzz about his situation is not the way to punish someone for their unsavory publicly posted, slanderous, hateful comments. Nor is forcing a heartfelt apology to the masses. It is wholly unfair that one of these men is not a paid spokesperson for Wal-Mart - strictly narration of a commercial - was doing a good thing for the American people by relaying a message of hope and promise (regardless of the institution responsible for the funding) and he receives death threats, slanderous comments, (Shill for the oppressors) and has to go and defend himself on national TV shows over and over and over again in an attempt to clear his name and organization of something that he was not responsible for in the first place. My neighbor is right, Mike didnt apologize - because Mike had nothing to apologize for. While the other man is directly paid by Wal-Mart to represent their company - in image, narration and product - was lambasting and slandering the people who most likely are the highest consumers for the company he represents. No labor groups or human rights activists are calling for his head on a platter. Other than a few small blurbs on TV and a rescheduled TV guide - no much has been said at all by any entity. WAKE UP AMERICA! Your priorities are so far out of whack. Start listening to the messages that are being spoon fed to you in all forms and from all sources. Understand what they are telling you, and think for yourselves! Form your own opinions. Listen to the message, not who is saying it to you. It will be a refreshing change - I promise. ~Shelly PS - Disclosure: I happen to follow both Adam Richman and Mike Rowe on social media. PSS - I would just like to make public note that I have a serious dislike of shopping at Wal-Mart, I avoid it at all cost - but not for any of the reasons that are specifically stated in the rant below. My reasons are my own and very typical of most persons I have spoken to on the topic. I choose to shop elsewhere as that is my choice.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Jul 2014 07:25:58 +0000
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