More negative publicity for Wal-Mart

An anti-Wal-Mart group called Wake Up Wal-Mart is starting a series of ads on CNN and CNBC to promote a documentary that's about to be released, called "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices". Meanwhile, the Department of Labor's inspector general is criticizing a deal Wal-Mart cut to settle child labor law violations -- apparently the DoL even allowed "attorneys for the world's largest retailer to write key parts of the deal." A congressman calls it "a sweetheart deal."

It's tough to work up a lot of sympathy for Wal-Mart, and most companies would be glad to have their problems, as long as they could also have their profits. But still, I'm beginning to wonder if there might be a point of critical mass at which Wal-Mart begins to suffer at the cash register.