Barbara Ehrenreich's Wal-Martians

In July of 2004, Barbara Ehrenreich wrote an opinion editorial on Walmart for The Baltimore Sun. The article can be found here, among other places, including the BYU compilation, Perspectives on Globalization (ISBN: 978-0-74093-121-5).

The author uses an interesting mixture of hyperbole and personification with the intent to vilify Walmart. She does a pretty good job of creating a hostile image, portraying the company as an army of Martians invading Earth. "It's torn cities apart from Inglewood, Calif., to Chicago, and engulfed the entire state of Vermont." She personifies Walmart as an alien who came to Earth quietly, unnoticed, disguised as a human, then grew into the War of the Worlds tripod it is today. She writes, "No one knows exactly when the pod landed on our planet, but it seemed normal enough during its early years of gentle expansion."

This method is effective in appealing to the audience's emotions. As I read Ms. Ehrenreich's article, I began to develop a negative opinion of Walmart. Her science-fiction allusion began to draw me into her designs, and I was left thinking that all those Walmart greeters who were slightly odd in appearance might actually have been aliens. This is an effective use of pathos. Ms. Ehrenreich's creative approach to this topic draws her audience into a "1950s sci-fi flick", with Walmart starring in the villain's role.

After creating a grisly scene for earthlings, and instilling dread, Ms. Ehrenreich changes gears and provides some logos for her readers. She cites the rate of growth of the company, (again using overstatement, "bigger than General Motors! Richer than Switzerland!") as being the real cause for concern. She provides evidence of this growth with numbers of store openings per week, real estate purchases, and employee figures. This is a good transition from pathos to logos, working on her audience's emotions then providing supportive facts.

Ms. Ehrenreich continues her assault on the Wal-Martians after establishing a front line, and goes for the monster's throat, accusing them of criminal behavior. She mentions class-action lawsuits against Walmart involving sex discrimination and failure to pay overtime. Surely there are other suits against the giant, but these two topics she mentions specifically to yank her audience's emotions once again. Who among us likes sex discrimination or not getting paid? She adds insult to injury, essentially calling Walmart a Third World sweatshop.

The conclusion of Ms. Ehrenreich's exposure of Walmart as an invading host of Martians invites the same Martians to assimilate with Earth. "Earth to Wal-Mars, or wherever you come from: Live with us or go back to the mothership." This is an interesting way for the author to present herself. In this statement Ms. Ehrenreich attempts to dissuade the audience of her hostility towards Walmart, and projects the position of wanting to find commonality. It's a good attempt at ethos, but as for the "aliens", the damage has been done. From now on, date night with my wife will take me to new frontiers. No longer can I carelessly browse the aisles of Walmart without paranoia setting in. Henceforth, we will conduct our business somewhere safe, like Sam's Club.