John Oliver discusses dollar stores and why Irish Spring is not his soap of choice.
Video Duration: 21:53
YouTube Link: youtu.be/p4QGOHahiVM
Invidious Link (privacy-respecting frontend for YouTube): vid.puffyan.us/watch?v=p4QGOHahiVM
Comments:
- John Oliver promotes awareness for work reform.
- Highlights systemic corruption in dollar stores.
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Oh excellent. I’m really glad he tackled this major, major problem, especially in small towns and rural areas. Dollar stores are predatory and should be reigned in. They’re also not cheaper than supermarkets. I went to a Dollar General recently because my daughter was desperate for a drink. They had bottles of water. Not huge ones, just normal Aquafina bottles or whatever. They charged me $2.75. If my daughter hadn’t been so desperate and we were closer to a gas station, I would have just gone there. And I’m just going to keep water in my car for her from now on.
Ulvain@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
Hey about keeping water in your car, be careful: cars get hot, and plastic water bottles leech chemicals in the water when they’re hot (particularly in direct sunlight, but true even in the trunk if it gets hot enough)
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 year ago
We have metal water bottles. We don’t re-use plastic ones. I guess the lid is plastic, but the water doesn’t go all the way up to the lid.
gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
They’re “cheaper” as in “you walk out the door generally having spent less money”, but they are absolutely FAR more expensive in terms of how much you pay per quantity/volume of products purchased.
It’s a chain that’s specifically designed to predate on poor people. The business model is “separating poor people from their money by making them a shitty offer that they can’t really refuse”.
Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that.
I can buy $5 worth of cleaning supplies to tidy up a temporary space. Broom, mop, detergent.
The supermarket - a broom is $10.
Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 1 year ago
So the “dollar” in the name doesn’t mean anything anymore?
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Apparently it means, “you’re going to spend one dollar plus some other dollars.”
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 1 year ago
at this point all it means is that you spend dollars there and not euros or pesos or dinars
son_named_bort@lemmy.world 1 year ago
In the case of Dollar General and Family Dollar, it never has.
SheeEttin@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Inflation means a dollar doesn’t go as far as it used to. You don’t see five-and-dimes or penny candy any more either.
Some things are still exactly a dollar, but often they have far less product in them. For example, a roll of tape with only a third as much tape on it as a full roll at other stores.
Waldowal@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Dollar General is not a “dollar store”. It just happens to have the word “dollar” in the name. They are a normal general store whose bread and butter are poor neighborhoods or far enough out in the sticks that Walmart won’t build.
RampantParanoia2365@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Um…gross?