Wal-Mart web site calls Martin Luther King an ape

[kurth]

New York Daily News
January 6, 2006
Wal-Mart monkey biz
Site ties 'Apes' flick to films about blacks
By TRACY CONNOR

Wal-Mart stirred outrage yesterday when its Web site suggested that shoppers who wanted to buy a "Planet of the Apes" DVD would be interested in biopics of famous black Americans like Martin Luther King Jr...

When visitors to Walmart.com plug in the name of a movie they want, the site also pulls up the name of several other "similar items" they might like. For instance, a shopper who enters "Million Dollar Baby" is offered other 2004 hits like "The Aviator" and "Ray."

But in the case of "Planet of the Apes," consumers who clicked on the DVD of the original TV series - a cult classic in which the Earth is ruled by gorillas - were routed to four movies about King, actress Dorothy Dandridge, boxer Jack Johnson and singer Tina Turner.

New Yorkers were disturbed. "They are making a statement relating apes to black movies?" wondered Denise Brown, 36, of East New York, Brooklyn. "'Planet of the Apes' was a science fiction movie. What does Martin Luther King have to do with that?"

"It's outrageous. I've never heard of anything like that," the Rev. Al Sharpton said when he was told of the pairings. "They need to straighten it out, and if they do not clarify what happened, we need to take some action." ...

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/380572p-323077c.html

[wryter2000]

1. That one was caught by a conservative at work

Not a freeper, but a pretty hard core conservative -- the type who rails against PC. He was disgusted.

[onenote]

2. what happened on the wal mart site was an outrage, but

the heading on the OP is quite misleading.

onenote

[Kagemusha]

3. I disagree with the use of the word "calls" in the subject line.

The article itself is dead-on though. It's wrong and it's good that a) attention was called to it, b) it will be fixed.

[SammyBlue]

4. When your customer base is white trash, you'll do anything to placate them

I am not surprised. Hopefully, Latifah and Destiny's Child (most likely not DC because they are cash whores of the highest odor) will drop Wal-Mart like a four cent pair of socks.

[Dob Bole]

5. Sammyblue calls Jimmy Carter "white trash..."

Sorry, I see president Carter in Wal-Mart sometimes. I couldn't help myself.