A Christian group called for a boycott of Wal-Mart after the mega-retailer instructed employees to say 'Happy Holidays' in place of 'Merry Christmas' and a woman who complained about the practice received a dismissive e-mail.
This denunciation of Wal-Mart began appearing in our inbox in November 2005. The text was taken from a 9 November 2005 press release entitled'Wal-Mart Bans Christmas: Boycott Launched' put out by the Catholic League, a group described on its web site as the nation's largest Catholic civil rights organization. In an additional statement issued on 10 November 2005 by Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, the group announced Wal-Mart had been put on notice about the matter.The Catholic League's protest has spurred response from Wal-Mart. Dan Fogleman of the company's public relations department confirmed the dismissive e-mailed answer did originate with a since-fired temporary employee identified only as Kirby.Fogleman said that the e-mail had been taken out of context and that the stores, while encouraging employees to say 'Happy Holidays,' did so to include celebrations from Thanksgiving to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year's Eve as well as Christmas.In reply to our query about the matter, Wal-Mart sent us this response:We at Wal-Mart believe this e-mail between a temporary associate and one of our valued customers was entirely inappropriate. Its contents in no way represent the policies, practices or views of our company. This associate, who was hired less than three weeks ago, is no longer employed by our company. We sincerely apologize to any person or organization that was offended by the inappropriate and inflammatory comments made by this former associate. Wal-Mart is proud to welcome customers of all faith, and celebrants of all holidays. With more than 138 million customers coming through our stores every week and a variety of holidays that they celebrate throughout this season, 'Happy Holidays' is a pleasant greeting that applies to everyone and every celebration. It's simply our way of wishing our customers a good time with their family and friends during this time of year. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.After Wal-Mart issued the above-quoted statement and altered its web site so that customers who search on the word 'Christmas' are taken to an untitled display of Christmas goods (rather than being greeted with the notice 'We've brought you to our 'Holiday' page based on your search'), the Catholic League called off their boycott of the retailer. (Wal-Mart has not changed their policy of encouraging employees to say 'Happy Holidays' in place of 'Merry Christmas,' but the Catholic League maintains that policy was not one of the issues motivating their boycott.)Barbara 'season's bleatings' Mikkelson
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