Bruce Sprinsteen is now saying his exclusive deal with Wal-Mart was a mistake. Oh boy was it ever. Here's Springsteen, a longtime supporter of labor, selling his latest greatest hits package exclusively at Wal-Mart. But the did issue a weak mea culpa, basically "Oops, we were to busy to realize Wal-Mart has really lousy labor practices."
In an interview with the New York Times, the Boss explains:
We were in the middle of doing a lot of things...given its [Wal-Mart's] labor history, it was something that if we'd thought about it a little longer, we'd have done something different
Wow. Just wow. It seems like it doesn't take much thought to realize that an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart, given their labor practices, isn't really the best pro-labor move. Here's his manager, John Landau's explanation:
Wal-Mart has been 15% of our sales in recent years. It's not a question of going into Wal-Mart; we're there. They, and other retailers, are all looking for some way to differentiate themselves, and we try to accommodate each one.
Usually in an exclusive deal, the retailer buys a certain number of records up front, with no returns. It's a guaranteed sale.
So at the end of the day, even Springsteen bowed to Mammon.
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Lisa Derrick is La Figa on Firedoglake.com