Deriving its roots from a modest beginning in Arkansas, Wal-Mart has grown to become one of the strongest international conglomerates on the global market. To achieve this economic status, the corporation has utilized vertical and horizontal integration as part of a greater scheme to achieve exponential profit margins. This cutthroat business policy has often left Wal-Mart in an ethically questionable position. To satirize the light in which Wal-Mart has often been reflected in the cartoonist turns to the use of pathos. Pathos in this cartoon is primarily entrenched in the populace's sentimentality with the small town, hardworking, average American. The cartoonist uses phrases such as "bomb Pearl's Bargain Harbor when they least expect it" to show that Wal-Mart has continuously encroached upon people that are trying to make a simple living. The historical allusion plays a critical role by comparing Wal-Mart to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and on a greater scale, American values. One should note that most Americans saw World War II as a moral crusade against those who opposed democratic rule and its freedoms. Using an emotional appeal, the cartoonist attempts to tell the viewer that Wal-Mart is attempting to take these very principles away. This leads to the next Aristotelian appeal, ethos. By aligning Wal-Mart with the axis of evil, people are swayed against Wal-Mart because of its subjugation of assumed American liberties. Other combinations of pathos and ethos in the cartoon include the stripping of civil liberties of the general populace, shutting down small businesses and disparaging diction that draws parallels between Wal-Mart and a common bully. All these grievances against the morally apathetic actions of Wal-Mart lead to the cartoonist's greater point; even though Wal-Mart is aware of its violations, it treats them with little care. The proposed solutions by Wal-Mart take on a type of irony by comparing their 'elitist', corporate agenda juxtaposed to the realities of the common man that most Americans can relate to. This great divide between corporations and their effect on the consumer and those who work on them may be a critique on America's socioeconomic system.
This cartoon satirizes war strategies. It does this by comparing them to wal-mart. America, in this sense, is wal-mart. America has had many wars and it's almost like running a company. The nation has to make decisions to attract "customers" or in other words make a profit/please the American people. The strategies can be similar for both a wal-mart and the nation of America.
I disagree with 'dustmoth' i don't think that Wal-Mart here is an allegory for America, I think that the image is trying to allude to WWII events such as the leaflet drops and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to say that Wal-Mart uses morally questionable business practices in an attempt to conquer the market.
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Deriving its roots from a modest beginning in Arkansas, Wal-Mart has grown to become one of the strongest international conglomerates on the global market. To achieve this economic status, the corporation has utilized vertical and horizontal integration as part of a greater scheme to achieve exponential profit margins. This cutthroat business policy has often left Wal-Mart in an ethically questionable position. To satirize the light in which Wal-Mart has often been reflected in the cartoonist turns to the use of pathos. Pathos in this cartoon is primarily entrenched in the populace's sentimentality with the small town, hardworking, average American. The cartoonist uses phrases such as "bomb Pearl's Bargain Harbor when they least expect it" to show that Wal-Mart has continuously encroached upon people that are trying to make a simple living. The historical allusion plays a critical role by comparing Wal-Mart to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and on a greater scale, American values. One should note that most Americans saw World War II as a moral crusade against those who opposed democratic rule and its freedoms. Using an emotional appeal, the cartoonist attempts to tell the viewer that Wal-Mart is attempting to take these very principles away. This leads to the next Aristotelian appeal, ethos. By aligning Wal-Mart with the axis of evil, people are swayed against Wal-Mart because of its subjugation of assumed American liberties. Other combinations of pathos and ethos in the cartoon include the stripping of civil liberties of the general populace, shutting down small businesses and disparaging diction that draws parallels between Wal-Mart and a common bully. All these grievances against the morally apathetic actions of Wal-Mart lead to the cartoonist's greater point; even though Wal-Mart is aware of its violations, it treats them with little care. The proposed solutions by Wal-Mart take on a type of irony by comparing their 'elitist', corporate agenda juxtaposed to the realities of the common man that most Americans can relate to. This great divide between corporations and their effect on the consumer and those who work on them may be a critique on America's socioeconomic system.
This cartoon satirizes war strategies. It does this by comparing them to wal-mart. America, in this sense, is wal-mart. America has had many wars and it's almost like running a company. The nation has to make decisions to attract "customers" or in other words make a profit/please the American people. The strategies can be similar for both a wal-mart and the nation of America.
I disagree with 'dustmoth' i don't think that Wal-Mart here is an allegory for America, I think that the image is trying to allude to WWII events such as the leaflet drops and the bombing of Pearl Harbor to say that Wal-Mart uses morally questionable business practices in an attempt to conquer the market.
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