Wal-Mart

Video embarrassment for Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, faces embarrassment and potential lawsuits after its corporate video archive was made public.

Flagler Productions, which worked for Wal-Mart for almost 30 years, has made its footage available to lawyers, unions and media organisations.

The archive includes clips of male store managers parading in drag.

Wal-Mart dropped Flagler in 2006 and only offered the firm $500,000 for the video library.

Flagler had asked for $150m before reducing its price to $145m, according to a letter on Wal-Mart's website.

The footage captures Wal-Mart executives and employees in closed meetings and unguarded moments.

A lawyer stumbled on the archive when representing a 12-year-old boy who suffered extensive burns after a gas canister bought at Wal-Mart exploded.

She found footage of employees joking and playing skits about exploding gas cans, reports said.

Flagler says that since Wal-Mart never signed a contract for its services, the rights to the tapes still belong to the production company.

Reports say the Kansas City-based firm is now charging $250 an hour for video research. Wal-Mart has not commented on the ownership of the archive.

(Published by BBC News 11, 2008)