Just when you though WM’s image couldn’t get any worse:
Wal-Mart has filed a federal lawsuit over a warped version of its logo appearing on T-shirts and on a Web site with the word “Wal-ocaust” in blue over an Iron Eagle clutching a yellow smiley face. Charles Smith, a 48-year-old computer repairman from Conyers, Ga., began selling T-shirts reading “I (heart) Wal-ocaust” last year, and he displays the more elaborate logo on his Web site. When Wal-Mart Stores Inc. found out, it requested a cease-and-desist order, calling the phrase and logo tasteless. Smith responded with a federal lawsuit in March asking a judge to decide if he can continue. Wal-Mart’s recently filed countersuit says Smith “seeks to cloak his illegal commercial activities under the mantle of the First Amendment.” It asks the court to dismiss Smith’s complaint and stop him from displaying or producing the logo. It also seeks undetermined damages.