[Vision2020] Wal-Mart Ends Automated Movie Suggestions

[Tom Hansen]

>From USA Today at:

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-01-05-wal-mart-offensive_x.htm

 

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Wal-Mart ends automated movie suggestions

 

By Marcus Kabel, Associated Press

 

Wal-Mart Stores is shutting down the automated system that creates movie
recommendations on its shopping website after the system randomly linked a
Planet of the Apes DVD to films about African-Americans including Martin
Luther King Jr., the company said Thursday.

Wal-Mart said it had fixed the immediate problem by removing what it called
the "offensive combinations" from a webpage on www.walmart.com advertising a
boxed DVD set, Planet Of The Apes: The Complete TV Series.

 

Under "Similar Items," the page linked shoppers to four movies about the
lives of the slain civil-rights leader, actress Dorothy Dandridge, boxer
Jack Johnson and singer Tina Turner. It was manually changed by 5:30 p.m. CT
to link shoppers instead to DVD sets of Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond and
Star Wars.

 

But the world's largest retailer said the automated system that generates
links for shoppers from one movie to others of similar interest is
malfunctioning and is in the process of being shut down. All cross
references would be removed as soon as technically possible until the system
can be fixed, Wal-Mart said.

 

"We are heartsick that this happened and are currently doing everything
possible to correct the problem," Wal-Mart spokeswoman Mona Williams said in
a statement.

 

Wal-Mart moved swiftly after a link to the page for Planet of the Apes began
circulating by e-mail on the Internet.

 

"Walmart.com's item mapping process does not work correctly and at this
point is mapping seemingly random combinations of titles. We were horrified
to discover that some hurtful and offensive combinations are being mapped
together," Williams said.

 

"We are deeply sorry that this happened," she added.

 

Williams said the malfunctioning system had to be shut down because it could
potentially create an almost endless number of possible combinations between
the thousands of movies available on the website.

 

"To further illustrate the bizarre nature of this technical issue, the site
is also mapping movies such as Home Alone and Power Puff Girls to
African-American themed DVDs," Williams said.

 

A non-African American themed documentary about surfers, Riding Giants,
links to the same list of seemingly unrelated fantasy films that the King
biopic does, including Polar Express and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

 

 

Take care, Moscow.

 

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

 

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in
sideways, chocolate in one hand, a drink in the other, body thoroughly used
up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO. What a ride!'"

 

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