An Open Letter to “Jim” and “Laura”
Dear “Jim” and “Laura:”
Please prove to me that you exist. I realize that’s a rude way to start out an e-mail, but you see I notice your blog Wal-Marting Across America is sponsored by Working Families for Wal-Mart (which is where I found the link to it). Working Families for Wal-Mart is, I hope you know, sponsored by Wal-Mart and run by the Edelman public relations firm out of Washington, D.C. So I hope you understand why I’m cynical. Your trip is being made possible by the company you are describing. This may explain why your blog, like every other Edelman blog, is not enabled to accept comments.
Creating fake people has a long history in advertising circles. Betty Crocker, for instance, did her own radio show in the 1930s and 1940s even though there never was such a person. If I were really cynical, I’d suggest that Edelman is staging your trip in the same sense that the government staged the moon landing in the movie Capricorn One (O.J. Simpson’s finest role!). Perhaps you exist in the same way that Ozzie and Harriet Nelson existed on TV, real people in an entirely fake situation.
For example, Laura tells us that she is 42 years old with no kids at home. Do you have a job, Laura? Does Jim? You see, according to John Tierney writing in the New York Times, “The average Wal-Mart customer has an income of $35,000.” I’m thinking you can’t afford to buy an r.v. and drive across America unless you make a lot more than that. And what about those lost earnings from your trip? If you do exist, how much is Edelman paying you to do this?
Regards,
Jonathan Rees
PS Should either of you choose to answer this e-mail, I will post your response on our Wal-Mart blog, http://www.thewritingonthewal.net, as I’m sure our readers would love to know more about you both.
JR: I messed with this post a bit after I pressed send, but I did send essentially the same letter to the contact e-mails at the blog. Any guesses if I get anything back?
Maybe Jimbo and Laura could also post a picture of themselves and their RV in a Wal-Mart parking lot.
OMG, Peter! You’re right! I noticed that there wasn’t a single picture of “Jim” or “Laura,” but unless that Edsel-looking thing with a trailer in the top right-hand corner is their RV (which I doubt), there’s no picture of the RV either.
Do you think Edelman really has a “Capricorn One” situation on their hands?
Shalom Jonathan,
Better yet. Perhaps we should turn our readers loose on a Where’s Waldoesque hunt for Jim and Laura?
The blog is not just sponsored by Working Sockpuppets For Wal Mart, it’s OWNED by the Sockpuppets. Checkout the copyright statement at the bottom of the right-hand column: Copyright © 2006 Working Families for Wal-Mart. All rights reserved.
Edelman is a day late and dollar short with his us too attempt to counter Wake Up Walmart’s cross-country trip. How much local press do you think this trip has generated? I can just hear the phone call now…
Hello? Amarillo Globe News? My hubby and I are driving our RV across the country as a publicity stunt for Wal Mart.
Would you send a photographer and reporter to the Wal Mart parking lot at 3700 E Interstate 40 so we can tell you about how we love Wal Mart and all the wondeful people who stock the shelves? What? No really, I’ve never been in a sorority.
This isn’t some lame aggie prank. We’ve got a real RV and everything. Please? Maybe just one little picture? If we don’t get some press soon Wal Mart will cancel our gas card and we’ll have to go back to stacking pallets. Huh? Why that’s just rude. I will not…
They hung up again Jim.
This is just shameless.
B’shalom,
Jeff
[...] 1640 An Open Letter to “Jim†and “Laura†1217 Tagged! Hooray! Filed under: [...]
Well there is now a picture of Laura, on the website, working on a laptop computer in what could easily be an RV. Guess which website she is looking at? Maybe she is working on a reply to Jonathan’s letter.
Still no reply to my e-mail yet. Perhaps they’re trying to send us a different sort of message. What that message might be, however, completely eludes me.
Shalom Y’all,
Actually there are several pictures of Laura and Wally-1 in the Flicker sets attached to the blog.
The best we get of Jim, however, is a shadow.
B’shalom,
Jeff
[...] Everytime Jonathan thinks he’s done with the Edelman story, something else crops up. While he may have the occasonal second thought, I, for one, am proud that he wrote that first letter to Jim and Luara and opened the blogger flood gates that got this story rolling. [...]
[...] Update: You know, it just struck me that some of you out there might not know what I’m talking about in this post. So for the sake of history you should all know that the whole “Jim” and “Laura” saga started right here. [...]
I couldn’t understand some parts of this article , but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.
[...] I encourage people to not shop at Wal-Mart, but I realize for many it’s not a real option; hence my little toothpaste buycott. But David and Megan (unlike Jim and Laura) have decided to not visit a Wal-Mart for a year. [...]