I love Mike Rowe. I’ve been following him on Facebook for a while now, and he seems to be a practical, logical guy who loves this country.
This past week, Mike has been involved in a controversy over a commercial voice-over that he did for Walmart that ran the other night during the coverage of the Olympics. Here’s the video, called, “I am A Factory”, in case you missed it (I did):
The video is part of an initiative by Walmart called “Work Is a Beautiful Thing.” As Mike says,
The commercial features real people doing real work in real factories all across America. It’s not very glamorous, but it’s honest and authentic, and I was honored to narrate it.
The result of this is that many people are calling for Mike Rowe’s head. Apparently, they hate Walmart, and have concluded that he is a sell-out who has abandoned the “little guy”.
If you want to read the first essay that Mike wrote about it, here is the link to Mike Rowe’s Facebook Page.
After a day or so, he did another post that I think explains his position as well as it can be. I agree with him completely. This country needs to get back to its manufacturing base, in my opinion, and anybody who will help it along is on my side. I have never been a big Walmart shopper or booster, but if they are willing to commit a quarter trillion dollars to U.S. manufacturers, then I am on their team. Here is his second post:
Clean-up In Aisle Four!
This whole Walmart thing. Wow. Just…wow.
If you’re just tuning in, here’s a brief timeline.– Last week, I did the voiceover for a commercial that announced Walmart’s commitment to purchase 250 billion dollars of American made goods and put them onto their shelves.
– This Saturday, the commercial ran during The Olympics, and people started talking. Some of the talk wasn’t very pretty.
– Sunday evening, I opened a bottle of Whistle Pig, and responded to a few of my detractors. I attempted to clarify a few things. By midnight, the Whistle Pig was badly depleted and I was very sleepy. So I hit “post,” and went to bed.
– Several hours later, I woke up to use the bathroom. (Sad, that I had to. Glad, that I woke up first.) On the way back to bed, I saw that my laptop was still open. I glanced at this page, and saw that over a million people had read your questions and my answers. Holy Crap.
The next morning, I awakened to the kind of chaos that simply wasn’t possible before social media. No less than a dozen requests from various news outlets asking me to appear as soon as possible. Urgent messages to return calls from people I didn’t know. Angry messages from certain acquaintances. Lots of encouragement from unexpected sources.
I was tied up all day, and unable to respond to the media requests. But the press waits for no one. Articles about our little Q&A began to pop up everywhere. There was this.
https://www.thenewamerican.com/economy/commentary/item/17606-mike-rowe-touches-the-third-rail-of-retailing-walmartAnd this. https://www.babble.com/entertainment/mike-rowe-and-walmart/
CNN even did a story about me…without me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acuZQuVM7Z0
That brings us to the present. 4,000 comments and counting. I’ve read them all. Thanks. And since you’re still reading, allow me to free-associate a bit further. Because if the press is still interested in this topic next week, I’ll fly to NY and make the rounds. Consider this a rehearsal of my talking points. As always, your suggestions are welcomed.
He goes on a bit and then says this:
– The mikeroweWORKS Foundation is in the business of partnering with any company that wants to see American manufacturing revitalized. If Walmart asks me to do more commercials like this, I will. Likewise Ford. Or Chevy. Or Lowe’s. Or Home Depot. Or George Soros. Or The Koch Brothers. Or The Sultan of Brunei. I really don’t really about where the investment is coming from, as long as it’s getting the US back to the business of making things. Because there is simply nothing more important to the future of the country.
– It’s a hell of a thing when someone you really don’t like suddenly does something that you actually agree with. At base, I think that’s what’s happening here. A lot of people who have fallen in love with hating Walmart are now wrestling with what the shrinks call “cognitive dissonance.” Regarding a 250 billion dollar investment in American manufacturing, the choices are simple – a) continue to condemn them for whatever you like to condemn them for, b) offer support and encouragement, or, c) shoot the messenger.
Try, for the moment, to forget what you think you know about Walmart. I encourage you to read the rest of his post, and the comments. See the link to Mike’s Facebook page (above).
Here is a list of YouTube Walmart videos for their campaign, “Work is a beautiful thing”:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=walmart+work+is+a+beautiful+thing&sm=3
P.S.: While shopping on Amazon for boots the other day, I noticed that you can now select shoes (and other products too) that are “made in usa”. That’s a step in the right direction, in my opinion. And yes, I bought some boots “made in usa”.
We should make an effort to Buy American whenever we can, even go out of our way, or pay a little more, if we can, and it is necessary. We can’t expect companies like Walmart and Amazon to carry American-made goods if we aren’t willing to buy them. That’s the bottom line.
By the way, I find it odd that many of the same people who condemn Walmart have no problem buying Apple products that are made by people in China working under less than ideal conditions.