Wal-mart's Donation
This is probably old news, but I've just received a copy of the American Family Association Action Alert concerning Wal-Mart donating 5% of on-line purchase to the Washington DC Community Center for Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender People. The AFA is calling for a boycott of Wal-Mart in protest on November 24th and 25th - the busiest shopping days here in the U.S.
I'm sure you can find a copy of their Action Alert somewhere.
So I did a little checking. It turns out this is true - mostly. Yes, Wal-Mart has Partnered with the NGLCC. Yes, Wal-Mart will be making a donation of 5% of all on-line purchases to the group. However, please read the Action Alert very carefully. Please note this little statement: The cash donation will come from online purchases made at Wal-Mart through the homosexual group's Web site.
What does that mean?
Well, as best as I can guess, The Washington DC GLBT Community Center has signed up as a Wal-Mart Affiliate. Wal-Mart, Amazon, and other on-line retailers allow other web sites to link to their pages and track the traffic coming from those portals, giving the originating web site a percentage of the sales they generate. Think of it as a finder's fee, or just a general commission on sales. Any web site can sign up for this. Hmm... Maybe I should do this...
Anyway, If you enjoy purchasing from Wal-Mart but don't want them to donate anything to this group, don't visit the group's website to start your Wal-Mart purchases.
I think a more effective campaign would be for the AFA to become a Wal-Mart affiliate and compare their sales to that of the GLBT Community Center.
For those that sent me the Action Alert, Thank you. I love you very much but I wish you would read these sorts of things just a little more carefully.
I did some research myself, and found quite a bit of backlash about this issue. Several sites are claiming that the GLBT association with Wal-Mart has netted them $4.17 since 2002 (if I recall the date correctly). I don't know whether this makes it a better or worse candidate for a boycott. If Wal-Mart would have to weigh the profits from the Gays vs. the traditionalists, and the ire from both groups that would result from doing anything.
I have the impression that the Affiliate program is very open, and that it does not represent endorsement by itself (though Wal-Mart has chosen to endorse these groups via other actions). A better response is probably to select an affiliate of your choice and shop at Walmart.com through it. I found reference to KingdomBuy.com. They route their affiliate earnings to the Christian charity of your choice.
In related news, because of its relationship to the AFA, KingdomBuy has lost its affiliate relationships with JCPenny, Nordstroms, FTD, and several other merchants. This is due to an email campaign launched by a "Don't close adult clubs" club at Yahoo. This group formed to protest the planned phase-out of adult merchandise from Yahoo stores. -
"Yahoo.com's 11,500-member club called "Don't close adult clubs" was formed after Yahoo announced it would begin phasing out its pornographic store items. "
see http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=23051
Major retail companies have severed ties with an online Christian shopping mall just days after advocates of Internet pornography launched an e-mail campaign against retailers doing business with the faith-based organization.
KingdomFirst.com
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Hmm... The Posted date for the WorldNetDaily article is 2001, as are several other articles regarding KingdomBuy.com. So several retailers cancelled their affiliate programs with KindomBuy 5 years ago because of AFA. Now AFA wants Christians to avoid Wal-Mart.
What's up with KingdomBuy today? Are they still in business? Their website is secured and I left my password at home, so I can't just pop in and see what sort of things are going on over there.
I don't know about the dollar amount generated, I'll agree the affiliate program is pretty open - at least it should be. A free and open society needs to remain free and open.
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