I just read an article that Wal-Mart is now selling Fair Trade Coffee. Do you think when large corporations do this they're actually making an attempt to be more socially conscious or are they just doing it because it's what sells, regardless of morals?

They are doing it because it makes them money. Same as the milk issue. They sell more milk than anyone and were selling milk with BGH in it. And just last week they released a statement that they would not sell anymore BGH milk. No, Wal-Mart didn't get a heart or a conscious. They did it because people let them no they really didn't want that stuff n their milk. And now Kroeger's has released the same sort of memo that their store brand wouldn't contain BGH.

I tend to favor the second option.
I often get suspicious about corproations that make a really big deal about being "morally conscious" and spend a lot of money and resources in marketing this fact.

they are doing it because of what sells

In America you can label products anything you want and get away with it with minimum consequences. For example, many grocery stores sell produce labeled "organic" yet there is no evidence to back up the label. I've seen fruit that has obviously been grown with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides labeled as organic.

Anybody can do the same thing with so called fair trade products. Why? Because the laws/rules that dictate what is organic, free trade, free-range (livestock), etc. are not clearly defined so it is easy to find a loop hole to exploit.

There is nothing that Wal-Mart does that is not motivated by the bottom line.
Socially conscious does not make wallets fatter. Same goes with 90% of all businesses, not just large corporation. That is the way a wise business person runs a business.

Walmart has NO morals. They will sell anything if it makes them $$$.

When Sam Walton first founded Wal-Mart in the early 1960's he was one of the first, maybe only, socially conscious businessman of his time. He started a store where his own family could work in harmony with the shoppers and their families.

It's just a nod back at the good old days, for the Wal-Mart Corporation, and what it has become.

I would like to think that it is out of social conscience but that would be unlikely. But if it is what is selling then I don't have a problem with that either, as long as coffee growers are getting a fair price for their coffee then I'm happy :)

They are doing it, because it is what sells. However, if it sells it is because that's what the customer wants. In the end, if we the customers demand these things, then corporations will have to change and the end result should be what matters. I still won't buy my coffee at Walmart, because I rarely, if ever, shop there for a wide variety of reasons.