Wal-mart censors America

Topic Post 4

I am not quite sure how to feel about my latest Wal-mart discovery.
Their Music Content Policy may be old news to many of you, but it is new to me. In case you didn't just read it, I will summarize: Wal-mart will not carry any music with the Parental Advisory Label and they will only carry radio-edit versions of potentially offensive songs. This choice to carry a "family friendly" product mix (Kotler and Armstrong p290) is highly questionable since they still sell guns, tobacco and other not-so-freindly items.
This policy does however extend (to a limited extent) to their DVD selection as well. Wal-mart is one of the few retailers that carries "Dove E-rated" versions of films released by Warner Brothers and New Line Cinema. These versions of the films are cut and dubbed to eliminate nudity, violence and profanity in much the same way as edited-for-TV versions that play on network television.
Also, while I was unable to find it on their website, they are one of the first to sell ClearPlay enabled DVD players that can be programmed to automatically edit out offensive content of regular DVDs on-the-fly using a subscription based service.
Why is it that Wal-mart decided to limit their product selection to what they (and the Dove Foundation) deem "safe" for young ears and eyes? Why are they so interested in pioneering the sale of sanitized entertainment?
I suppose that despite having a rather preachy image, the folks at Dove have made a very good point. Family movies just sell more than R rated features. I don't know whether or not the same is true for music, but if the edited version of 50 cent's the Massacre CD can make it into the top 3 downloads then Wal-mart must be doing something right.
The folks at Wal-mart must assume that since their best customers are familes with two working parents and little time to shop, they must also have less time to spend monitoring what their children are watching and hearing. While I do not really condone Wal-mart (or any other company for that matter) assuming this sort of surrogate parental role, their decision does seem to make good financial sense. They are clearly homing in on the concerns of their most important demographic segment. (p240)