Nov. 27, 2019
By Janey Whiteside, EVP and Walmart Chief Customer Officer
Walmart has an amazing story to tell. We, in many ways, represent America.
One hundred and sixty million customers shop with us each week. And 1.4 million associates make our more than 4,700 stores tick every single day. What we all do together fuels communities across the country, and that is what makes us Walmart.
The ad campaign – Spark – is focused on telling our story … showing off the customers and associates who do amazing things in their communities day-in and day-out … the spark they bring to the places we all call home.
In year's end holiday ad campaigns past, we made a special effort to say thank you to our associates, but this year, we’re really diving in to more than that. This work was created to show the spirit of all that we do to make lives better.
The campaign features associates and customers who share ongoing acts of good and selflessness – from small gestures, like greeting a veteran who walks into one of our stores, to big actions, like uniting the community to help a neighbor in need. Their efforts for good in our stores and in their own neighborhoods create a sense of community, hope and opportunity for everyone they encounter. These associates and customers are the spark that creates the kinds of communities that we all want to live and believe in.
Some of the incredible Walmart associates featured in the campaign include Cailyn Anderson, an associate in Chicago who makes extra food when cooking at home to deliver to the homeless in the city.
And there’s Roshan Budhathoki, an associate in Austin, who pays forward the compassion he and his wife received after they immigrated to the U.S. Roshan chooses to see goodness in everyone he meets and goes out of his way to teach English and American culture, so others feel just as welcome as he does in this country.
April and Amanda Bell are customers who own six McDonald’s franchise locations in Houston. This year during back to school time, April and Amanda supplied all of April’s employees' kids with backpacks and school supplies for the year from Walmart. Our associates helped her source large quantities of all the supplies from multiple stores so that all the kids got the supplies they need.
I know it sounds a bit cheesy but, quite frankly, the ad is really meant to evoke emotion. I know for those in the Walmart family, it has. We’re showing the world not just what we do, but what we stand for - which in this case, is championing people who make their communities better.
The campaign kicks off during the NFL game between Dallas and Buffalo on CBS on Thanksgiving Day. We can’t think of a better time to show what makes us thankful to be a part of the Walmart family.
