Ummm, what???
Oh yeah, and they have the link to prove it: Another reason to boycott Walmart? Like we needed more. Mixed Media Watch points out: Apparently when you go to Wal-Mart’s site to purchase a box set of “Planet of the Apes: The TV Series,†it lists as “similar items†the following titles:
Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
and
Martin Luther King: I Have a Dream / Assassination of MLK
Jesus. Unbelievable.
Well they thankfully have corrected the problem. Actually, they don’t seem to have a “similar items” section anymore on any of their titles. Maybe they are working out the kinks in the system.
My understanding is that those lists are computer generated based either on key words or on items that people purchasing that item in the past have also purchased, not on some random racist walmart worker making lists. So at least they responded to the critisism and made changes to the system. I’m not a big defender of Walmart but I’ll give them credit for that.
There’s a good analysis of this at Boing Boing, with follow-up: http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/05/walmart_apes_dvd_lis.html
It could be because the movie really is is an allegory about race in the US, or because the system was gamed by users who wanted to make Walmart look bad.
Whats the big deal? Is anyone that sensitive to think this is some racist ploy by Wal-Mart. Come on!