Black Friday Deals

In a deal between behemoths, Walmart is launching a Facebook app called My Local Walmart that allows its 9.5 million Facebook followers to find out about the deals and events at their local stores. The combination of Walmart’s 150 million shoppers and Facebook’s 165 million American users creates a powerful partnership, but is it a good thing?

The customized marketing tailors content for each of Walmart’s U.S. stores, according to Ad Age. The app will enable the retailer to target its marketing based on the seasons and such regional events as Nascar races and fishing tournaments. And to add to the excitement of holiday shopping, users will be able to download maps of the floor plans of their local store to their smart phones to help them better locate those much coveted Black Friday discounts.

But behind all this go-local movement is a concern raised by our sister site, The Consumerist, that this app gives Walmart access to your Facebook profile information for their mega-marketing machine. In the world of mom-and-pop stores, it would be like pop knowing a bit too much about your life and blabbing to mom, who then finds a way to make a buck off the scoop.