Target Counters Wal-Mart Advertising: Discount Chain Takes Aim at Price Comparisons Made by Competitor's Ads By Beth Heitzma

MINNEAPOLIS - Dayton Hudson Corp.'s Target Stores discount chain took aim at rival Wal-M

Target said last week that Wal-Mart’s in-store price comparisons in several markets consistently list incorrect prices for Target products and in some cases list prices for products Target doesn’t carry.
‘We don’t mind price comparisons, but we want them to be accurate,’ said company spokesperson Gail Dorn. ‘We have hundreds of examples in a number of markets where the comparisons are not accurate and Wal-Mart has refused to do anything about it.’
Dorn said Target decided to take the issue to the public after months of efforts by Target to correct the situation by contacting Wal-Mart directly. According to Dorn, Wal-Mart has ignored Target’s requests to correct the discrepancies for several months. Wal-Mart did not return repeated calls for comment last week.
The full-page newspaper ad, which carried the headline, ‘This Never Would Have Happened If Sam Walton Was Alive,’ ran in nine markets last Tuesday.
The copy uses Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton’s reputation as a tough, but honest, competitor, to scold current Wal-Mart executives for the pricing inconsistencies. ‘Sam Walton liked to win the fight . . . He understood the difference between making competitive statements and making misleading ones.’
Copyright Adweek L.P. (1993)