Why Anything

Wal-Mart apologized yesterday after its retail Web site directed potential buyers of 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' and 'Planet of the Apes' DVDs to also consider purchasing DVDs with African American themes.

The world's largest retailer said in a statement that it was 'heartsick' over the racially offensive grouping and that the site was linking 'seemingly random combinations of titles.'
'It's just simply not working correctly,' said Mona Williams, vice president of corporate communications for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The company said it was alerted to the problem early yesterday afternoon after word began spreading among bloggers. When visitors to Walmart.com requested "Planet of the Apes: The Complete TV Series" on DVD, four other movies were recommended under the heading "Similar Items." Those films included "Martin Luther King: I Have A Dream/Assassination of MLK" and "Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson."

Williams said similar titles were called up when the DVD of the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was requested. There were three such combinations involving those two movies and African Americans films, she said.

Wal-Mart Web site makes racial connections