Whenever things go wrong in a community for Wal-Mart, their local spokespersons have a very narrow script to work from. When in doubt, Wal-Mart “community affairs managers” are given very little to manage from corporate headquarters. Consider the tight rope given to Eric Berger, Wal-Mart’s community affairs spokesman for the western division. This past week, Berger was asked to respond to two setbacks his company faced as the result of adverse court rulings. Instead of responding to the content of the court decisions, Berger fell back to the standard mantra of “jobs & taxes”, as follows:
July 1, 2005 San Gabriel Valley News. Commenting on a court ruling that requires Wal-Mart to do more environmental reviews in Rosemead, CA:
“We do hear from many members of the community that they would appreciate the much-needed sales-tax revenue and jobs,” Berger said.
July 2, 2005: The Deseret News. Commenting on a Supreme Court ruling in Utah allowing a referendum to take place:
“We’ll continue to look for opportunities to serve our customers and bring the positive benefits of jobs and sales tax revenue of our stores to communities in Utah,” Eric Berger said.
If you want to work in community affairs for Wal-Mart, try becoming an actor instead. Acting pays better, and you learn to work off a more interesting script.
