I was at Whole Foods last night to do a little market research on green packaging. Was also planning on using their salad bar as dinner. Unfortunately, the music was so unpleasant, in the sense of offensive lyrics, that I left with just a small purchase and skipped the meal and other things I would have bought. One lengthy song, obviously written by a politician who just kept saying the same ridiculous and offensive things over and over, was about sex. OK, that’s been common for many years, but this song was just too detailed and the singer wasn’t so stoned that all the words were garbled like in the good old days. You didn’t have to speculate about what was being said and look up the lyrics online to figure out the meaning of the song. (Note to rock stars: If you’re going to sing dirty while sober, at least have bad diction and bad sound equipment so we don’t have to hear every word.)
Then the next song came on with another singer with crisp diction and high-quality recording equipment. Is this some kind of trend? His song was about a woman taking her dress off. Not as raunchy as the first, but not wholesome. The male singer was also a politician. Over and over and over….
Is it too much to expect a grocery store to play music that parents (OK, maybe some parents) don’t have to shield their children from? Sure, they are going to hear it out there in the unwholesome world we live in, but I wish Wholesome Foods would not be one of those sources of unwholesome music.
Maybe the CEO will announce a new partnership with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Cool. Then I’ll be back for dinner.
Yeah, that seems a little inappropriate for a public store. I don't personally find that stuff offensive but lots of folks do. You'd think their management would be a little more careful. How bad was this stuff though? Was this like "will offend a sailor" style music? Aww… now I feel like I'm unjustly categorizing sailors. 😛
Wholesome Foods, or Whole Foods?
Jeff,
Do the CEO a favor and send him a copy of this post.
I was at an optical center years ago and the music was offensive. I told the person in charge and was ignored. Then three Nuns came in for glasses and the music stayed on. I immediately called cooperate headquarters and they were very gracious.
Cooperate sent a generous gift certificate for the fast offering.
I walked into a frozen custard shop to heavy metal one time. I wasn't as offended as I was confused by the really poor mix (at least, I was confused until I saw who the only person in the store was).
(and Jeff, I think your blog's spam filter is blocking my comment in your post about Amlicites. Any way you could revive it from the Spam inbox please?)
Yes, it was Whole Foods, not Wholesome Foods as I originally has in my title.
Jeff, your blog keeps thinking I'm a spammer 🙁
There are 3 long posts Blogger removed from my debate with CF in Amlecites…your help would be much appreciated
I'm often amazed at how often really foul songs sneak in when people are simply not paying attention. And I'm often amazed at just how high that attention threshold really is (Or maybe it's how little attention is truly being paid).
Totally agree with this. My old place of work had two CD's of music like that on repeat all day. No one ever did anything about it even though there were complaints. It was the kind of place were they just didn't care what people thought of them.
New here, but I agree. Just the other day I was in JC Penney's and my son found a TV in the dressing area to watch while I shopped nearby. When I was done, he asked if I could watch a little with him. I did, was quickly offended and left. I did notice that the channel was comedy and after looking it up the movie was American Pie: The Naked Mile. I don't know much about this movie, but it DID NOT belong in public view. I wrote the company but so far, no response. Keep up the good work!
this is sad, indeed–
I've been in only four Whole Foods stores in my life, including the 'parent' store in Austin, Texas–
and I've never heard bad music there; I think the managers in your local store might be able to do something about this–
sad, pathetic.