Little Jack's CornerThe Life & Times of Jack-Evan and Family

So.  Ok.

Walmart, me and you need to have a bit of a chat here, buddy.

You’re a big corporation.  We’re small town peoples.  Obviously you will care squat about what I have to say, but I can’t help myself.

Recently you advertised ONLINE and on FACEBOOK events that you’re were about to have the most fantabulous birthday party ever for one of THE most popular cartoon characters on TV today.  And let’s not even get into the major press release that you apparently put out encouraging local news stations around the nation  to advertise the “birthday party” as well.  Don’t believe me?  Just google “Dora Birthday Party Walmart” and see how many ads for this party pops up.

That’s right.  I’m talking about la nina herself, Miss Dora the Explorer.  She just happened to turn 10 this weekend.

Remember her?  DORA?  Yes.  Her.  The birthday girl?  Yes.  DORA.

In case you forgot, here’s your exact wording:

“Nothing is bigger in a preschooler’s life than their birthday —- now, one of their favorite friends is celebrating a birthday at Walmart! Children and adults are invited to the ultimate birthday party in-store. When Dora’s friends arrive at Walmart they are invited to join the adventure at the Bright Ideas event station in Toys, where they will get party favors like cupcakes and a free photo print with Dora in her special birthday dress. Schedule this event on your calendar today and check out the Dora Birthday Doll Exclusive at Walmart.”

And being a 27 year old mommy to a 2 year old boy who absolutely worships the ground that Dora explores on, I was extremely aware of your VERY BIG promotion online (corresponding with Nickelodeon’s weekend release of Dora’s new BIRTHDAY movie) encouraging all mommies everywhere to give up a part of their Saturday and bring our children into your stores all across the nation to celebrate Dora’s party.  All we had to do was type in our zipcode on your website to find out which stores in our area was participating (3 of them just within a 10 mile radius of me!).

I don’t know about you, but when you tell a mother to take a child to someone’s birthday, you better believe that we expect the guest of honor to show up.

Or AT THE VERY LEAST for someone in your stores to friggen KNOW what is going on!

Especially when you have your advertising worded so ambiguously.  ”Free photo print with Dora”.  Really?  Really? REALLY?  C’mon now.  Let’s get real.

For over a week, my two year old was told about Dora’s upcoming birthday party.  He’s TWO.  TWO YEARS OLD.  He was beyond excited at the thought of meeting a character from the only TV show he really watches.

For over a week, mommies in our area exchanged information about the upcoming party.  Many were excited when they first heard about it and spread the news to others.  Shoot, my macho man husband was even telling daddies at his work about it so they could take their Dora loving kids also.  THEY were excited.  Anything that makes our kids happy, we parents jump at the chance to participate.

You obviously know that.

The drop-in “party” was set to run 11 am to 4 pm at stores nationwide. Our family of 4 (me, my husband, my newborn and my 2 year old) as well as my parents planned to attend the party for some good ol’ family fun with our tot. At 11:30 am we arrived and my son jumped out of the car with his own little beloved backpack strapped to his tiny shoulders.  We had the camera and were even set to purchase a Dora toy or two.  FOR OUR SON.  (Yes, we’ll do anything for him.  He loves Dora, hates Diego.  So be it.)

As we reached the toy department, we noticed a small cart like thing with a woman spraying the glass and wiping it.  To the side is a small box of cupcakes from the bakery.  One lone Dora doll is sitting to the side.  If we had not have been looking hard, we wouldn’t have even seen it.

I casually approached her and whispered “When will Dora be here?”.

You’d think I’d asked when the president was coming!

The lady there at the booth proceeded to laugh in bewilderment and tell me that none of the characters would be there (or anywhere) as far as she knew.  Furthermore, she explained, she had been the only person to volunteer to work the “booth” and that no one had even known about it until that morning.   She had also been told it started at 10 am.  The bakery was told 12 pm.  We wandered off for a while to let her finish setting up and returned about 30 minutes later to get our one cupcake.

For pete’s sake, Walmart, I’ve seen better booth set ups when you give away sample crackers in the grocery section!

The “photo”?  It was nothing more than a free 5×7 print (with Dora ON THE BORDER) from the Walmart photo center.  No one was taken pictures like your ads implied.  If you didn’t have your own photo or media card with you at that time, you were SOL.  Completely.

There were NO decorations, no posters, no balloons, no party favors, no giveaways, no fun and worst of all?  NO DORA. It was the worst “birthday party” ever.

It was nothing like you advertised!

Walmart, I’m sure Sam Walton would have been proud if this was your way of doing things cheap.  I mean, c’mon.  Would it have killed you to have corporate send each participating store a Dora suit?!  My 6’1″ burly husband said he had a good mind to go over to Halloween Express and come back dressed as Dora just so other kids wouldn’t be as disappointed as ours was over this whole shenanigan.  He would have done it too if I hadn’t  decidedly nixed that idea.

And was this an isolated incident?  Nope.   The event was widely publicized in our large mommy’s group and the other moms had the exact same horrible experience with each different Walmart they attended.

There are even 15 comments on Hip2Save.com’s Dora Birthday Party Post where other mothers from OTHER parts of the country are reporting similar experiences of incompetence and total ignorance regarding this widely promoted event.  And that’s just one particular blog I’ve found tonight.  Who knows how many more moms are discussing this off the cuff on mommy boards and other blogs around the internet.

Yet even as I write this, I know it doesn’t matter.  A major communication breakdown occurs between corporate Walmart and the little local “super stores” that keep that massive wheel a’turnin’ – and no one is even going to blink an eye.  Children across the nation experienced disappointment today because what their parents told them turned out to be a lie.  To tell our children they’re going to see a beloved character – basing what we say on what a huge company has in turned told us – and then to have to witness the sadness when what we have told them doesn’t come to fruition?  Yeh.  That stings.

Yet…yet… “Oh they’ll get over it.  They’re children”.

Yep.  That’s what you’ll say.  Then you’ll gloss over it with the disclaimer “Each local store was responsible for creating the atmosphere for the party.”   How do I know?  Because the wonderfully nice woman working our local store’s so-called “birthday party” booth called corporate herself looking for answers after I explained how heavily this had been promoted online to moms, and that’s what she was told.

Yep.  Walmart, you just don’t care.