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Walmart Tries to Emulate MySpace

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the trying-way-to-hard dept.

mattsucks writes to tell us that according to AdAge, retail behemoth WalMart is trying desperately to target the MySpace demographic with a new, and highly sanitized, site designed to appeal to teens. From the article: "It's a quasi-social-networking site for teens designed to allow them to 'express their individuality,' yet it screens all content, tells parents their kids have joined and forbids users to e-mail one another. Oh, and it calls users 'hubsters' -- a twist on hipsters that proves just how painfully uncool it is to try to be cool."

7 of 345 comments (clear)

  1. AdSpace by BrynM · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The only thing is, MySpace didn't get created as a way to gather free footage for an ad campaign or to push apparel sales on kids. From the FAQ:
    SO, WHAT CAN I DO HERE? There's tons of fun stuff to keep you entertained! Check out the latest fashion trends and make your own personalized page for a chance to win amazing prizes from Sony! If you're a little more ambitious, create your own video clip and send it in for a chance to have it turned into a TV commercial!
    The whole "Wal-MartSpace" site seems to be geared around a contest to create a Wal-Mart ad. The rules of the contest state
    Entrants are asked to discuss, illustrate, express their individuality (any way within the provisions of these rules and the guidelines posted on the Web Site), how it is reflected in their personal style, taste in fashions / accessories, interests, activities, etc., and to consider how Wal-Mart helps support their personal style and self-expression through the depth and breadth of products Wal-Mart offers.
    And so much for it being a blog of sorts
    Page and/or Page and Video must be completed and submitted at the same time in a single online session.
    My personal favorite rule is the one that states
    Without limitation and in its sole discretion, Sponsor may disqualify any Entry that it deems to:... Contain any beverages, tobacco, drug paraphernalia, firearms, or any depiction or representation thereof; or
    Damn it, those kids better not have anyone drinking water in their submission! The four example videos shown would all be disqualified by the rules - most have trademarks or copyrights (music and clothing logos), one has someone with a beverage (gasp!) and one has partial nudity (shirtless boys). This is an ad campaign that is doomed to fail, IMHO. The bright side is that we will have some Wal-mart joke fodder for a while. Your kid, too, can have a Genuine Faux Blog(tm).
    --
    US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
  2. Check, check and check... by darnok · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Screened content? Check
    Parents notified? Check
    Oooh, no email? Check

    Yep, hits all my buttons.

    Unfortunately, I'm a parent, with teenagers. I'd have as much success leading them to this site as I have getting them to tidy their rooms, speak respectfully to their elders and cook dinner occasionally.

  3. Why Walmart? WHY? by moz25 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A much better idea would have been to create a subsidiary and do it through them. The association with a company that works on a "mass" basis somewhat works against the desire to "express one's individuality".

    Actually, if I did want to express my individuality (which I don't, because I don't have low self-esteem), I would prefer to make my own site. That's a lot more individualistic than being part of a large mass of people on a big site.

    --
    see a Text Widget
  4. MySpace by pubjames · · Score: 4, Insightful


    I've looked at MySpace but I just don't get it. It just full of crap. Perhaps I'm too old.

    Can anyone point out a page that's actually worth looking at?

    1. Re:MySpace by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Can anyone point out a page that's actually worth looking at?

      I think the problem is you are looking at Myspace pages as a random passerby. I use my page to communicate to people who have an interest in what is going on in my life (friends, family, former classmates). Randomly going around Myspace is like looking into random people's diaries. Maybe you'll get a chuckle, but more often you'll be bored and confused.

  5. Proof positive by kataflok · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Aside from the entertainment of the mockery Wally World so richly deserves, this is a pretty clear example of the level of desperation the idiot mainstream marketers are experiencing. They, like the failed entertainment retailers, are coming to realize that they can't control the world anymore.

    So, they are trying to take on this runaway train we call the web. Trouble is, they have been stuck in their little castles for so long, they no longer get the new world that is. Because they do not get it, they attempt a cheesy imitation of such.

    The stunning irony here is that they actually believed this rip off would be found credible and there was no one within their ranks who was able to tell them how idiotic they looked.

    This isn't the loss of a battle -- this is a total loss of the war.

    --
    Mod me up, mod me down, flame me, praise me -- whatever you do, you help prove I exist...
  6. You guys are missing the point... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Wal*Mart is simply doing this to gain valuable insight into the "popular" things teenagers think about. To do so is to "know your market," which in the ends gains them dollars. They don't give a damn about competing with MySpace - this is simply free focus group fodder. If they even get a few hundred users to post a few blog posts with useful marketing information, they'll be happy.

    Marketing data is what they are looking for.