Wake up and smell the coffee, Wal-Mart

So Wal-Mart is considering bringing in Fair Trade coffee into its stores. Can you feel the irony?

The Organic Consumers Association posted a notice on the Web about the fair-trade and organic coffee at Sam's Club that urged shoppers to patronize independent cafes and roasters instead. Ronnie Cummins, the group's national director, said the most common complaints about Wal-Mart -- that it runs out small businesses and lowers prices and wages to unsustainable levels -- do not disappear just because the merchandise changes.

Marketing consultant Simon Sinek, who teaches at Columbia University, said labels such as "organic" and "fair trade" may work against Wal-Mart because they are losing resonance with shoppers. "Wal-Mart is the absolute pinnacle of mass market appeal," Sinek said. "If Wal-Mart is selling it, then it's not a big deal."

Here’s an idea: How about paying your employees a living wage and a better health care plan so that they don’t have to rely on government programs to supplement the little you already provide them?