The Hub will be the retailing giant's online attempt to win over the online teen crowd and bolster its flagging fortunes in the hotly competitive apparel market.
"Do what thou wilt" as an operating principle? Profile your thoughts at The Hub, a heavily controlled online networking site run by Wal-Mart. An AdAge etched positively in the minds of a young audience. The duo have provided some enticements to encourage participation in The Hub, though.
Similar to the real prizes, like a trip to Los Angeles to meet with a Creative Professional in the business.
Quite frankly, our lives would be complete if the winner chose to meet with Yahoo's media kingpin, Lloyd Braun.
However, participating in The Hub involves obeying a lengthy list of requirements set down by Wal-Mart. Teens aged 13-17 need their participation supervised by a parent or legal guardian. Wal-Mart will also review content submitted before it is posted to the site, a practice that elicited this wry comment from AdAge writer Mya Frazier:
So a subversive, ironic ad by a savvy teen on how her dad's hardware shop closed down after the retail Goliath rolled into town would likely be "otherwise objectionable" to Wal-Mart.
Aww, come on, Chevy had so much fun with its Chevy Apprentice campaign, too.
Maybe since the rigid conformity and control being enforced by Wal-Mart will be seen as so uncool that teens will participate in it ironically, and one of them will walk off with the big prize for a video he or she creates. It'll be something to talk about on a MySpace blog, anyway.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business. 
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