» Does Wal-Mart Burn Books?

In The Wal-Mart Thought Police Amy Schiller discusses attempts by Wal-Mart to censor what we hear and read.

Take, for example, Wal-Mart’s refusal to sell Sheryl Crow’s self-titled album in 1996, citing objections to a lyric that criticized Wal-Mart for selling handguns (a practice that the chain has since discontinued), which they felt was “unfair and irresponsible.”

In college, my group of friends had a ban list. Whenever one felt wronged by a company, restaurant, bar or other entity, we banned them as a group. We all agreed to uphold each other’s bans in a collective protest. A local bar holds a mixer for a visiting team’s fans, we banned them. A bookstore fails to honor an advertised sale, banned. Burger King hires Lou Holtz to pimp for them, banned. Wal-Mart sells CDs with explicit lyrics bleeped out, still banned to this day (the CD/DVD section at least).

With the CDs it wasn’t so much the fact that they sold edited versions of the music, it was that they didn’t disclose it. I’m over 18, I can decide which version I want to buy if I am properly informed.

And what kind of power does Wal-Mart’s CD/DVD department have?

Much as Crow probably appreciated the paternalistic advice, as the No. 1 CD retailer in the world (yes, the world) with sales accounting for 10% of total domestic CD sales, a Wal-Mart boycott can result in hundreds of thousands in lost album sales.

The record industry, never too proud to bend over for sales, has started issuing two versions of the same album, one “sanitized.” Sometimes this entails altering the cover art, as John Mellencamp was asked to do for his album Mr. Happy Go Lucky, whose cover featured an angel and devil in the background. Nirvana actually changed its song title from “Rape Me” to “Waif Me” for the Wal-Mart version. Both they and the Goo Goo Dolls came under fire for portraying babies in their cover art as well. The cover of the Goo Goo Dolls album titled “A Boy Named Goo” featured a baby covered in blackberry juice; Wal-Mart banned it and only reversed its decision under pressure from the media.

Wal-Mart’s official statement on music is as follows: “Wal-Mart will not stock music with parental guidance stickers. While Wal-Mart sets high standards, it would not be possible to eliminate every image, word or topic that an individual might find objectionable. And the goal is not to eliminate the need for parents to review the merchandise their children buy. The policy simply helps eliminate the most objectionable material from Wal-Mart’s shelves.”

It still is a free country, they have a right to sell what they want. Just as we have a right to spend where we want.

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