Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is a 2005 documentary film by director Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films about the American multinational corporation and retail conglomerate Walmart. The film presents a negative picture of Walmart's business practices through interviews with former employees, small business owners, and footage of Walmart executives. Greenwald also uses statistics interspersed between interview footage, to provide an objective analysis of the effects Walmart has on individuals and communities.[2]
Synopsis
The film features archival footage of Walmart CEO Lee Scott praising the corporation at a large employee convention, intercut with interviews designed to undercut Scott's statements.
The documentary argues that Walmart underpays its workers, paying them an average of $17,000 per year (in 2005 dollars).[3] According to the interviews, these wages are too low for employees to afford Walmart's health insurance, so management counsels workers to apply for government programs such as Medicaid instead. Greenwald also claims that Walmart hires undocumented workers