Want a slice of traditional Americana? Head to Wal-Mart. The indispensable Paul Briand writes at Examiner.com that nothing symbolizes America to baby boomers like Wal-Mart, according to a new survey from “60 Minutes” and Vanity Fair magazine.
The Vanity Fair/60 Minutes poll asked Americans what best symbolizes America today. The choices, besides Wal-Mart, included Google, Microsoft, the National Football League and Goldman Sachs.
Overall among all respondents, Briand says, the discount chain store by a wide margin came out ahead at 48 percent, followed by Google (15 percent), Microsoft (13 percent), NFL (6 percent), Goldman Sachs (3 percent) and none of the above (2 percent).
Among baby boomers 45 to 64 the percentage skewed higher for Wal-Mart at 52 percent followed by:
Briand notes that mom, apple pie and baseball weren’t included among the possible answers.
“The sense is that Wal-Mart, despite all the criticism leveled at it, reaches out to help Americans, especially older Americans, cope with a lousy economy and expensive health care.”