Wal-Mart is entering the realm of "Reality Television", only it won't be as a sponsor of super-physical, survivor-type shows.
For the first time, Wal-Mart Stores is becoming a major sponsor of a reality television show, by signing a branded-entertainment agreement with ABC for "The Scholar," a summer series that begins a six-week run on Monday night. Wal-Mart will be woven into the plots of episodes of the show, which is centered on a competition among 10 high school seniors from across the country for a grand prize of a full college scholarship, valued at $250,000, covering tuition and expenses.The students will compete in a variety of academic, creative and social tasks, including team challenges, oral exams and defending themselves before a scholarship committee. In one challenge, the five members of the winning team each receive a $2,000 Wal-Mart gift card to outfit their dormitory rooms. And Wal-Mart is underwriting the cost of the scholarships for the nine runners-up, totaling $300,000. (The Broad Foundation in Los Angeles is donating the grand prize.)
There will also be commercials during the show promoting the Wal-Mart and Sam's Club Foundation's long-running program offering scholarships to students in towns where it operates stores and distribution centers.
Apparently Wal-Mart's motivation is to try to counter some of the image problems they think they have been having. The fact that they think they have been having image problems suggests that perhaps the anti-Wal-Mart forces have been having an impact.
Posted by TheEclecticEconoclast on June, 7 2005 at 05:04 PM
Brian Ferguson wrote:The money would be better spent providing scholarships to kids from Arkansas, based strictly on academic performance. Sounds like the management of Wal-Mart are looking to corporate social responsibility to burnish their image, which means they're being distracted from the business of making lots of goods available at prices low income people can afford.
-- June 7, 2005 10:41 PM ∞
McGroarty wrote:If WalMart is listening -- that money would be better spent opening a WalMart in Chicago 60618. In the last year we've gotten a Target and a Home Depot. Both are thriving, while the nearest WalMart is an hour if you're bussing it.
There's a poorly-run K-Mart just a block off the interstate that's just begging to be knocked over.
-- June 8, 2005 01:11 AM ∞
Steve Lee wrote:I think this is a great way for Wal-Mart to reach an audience that does not watch much "broadcast" TV and perhaps they will become interested in their schooling and motivated by this program.
The new DVD's and CD's are released the day after this program airs and I am sure that this audience purchases a lot of them at Wal-Mart.
Steve Lee, polyscibase.-- June 9, 2005 02:07 PM ∞
