Walmart contended with a widespread text-messaging hoax that warned women to stay away from its stores or risk death. The digital rumor apparently originated in an urban myth (an unsubstantiated “fact” that many people accept as true) that circulated via email several years ago. As a reflection of how widespread this myth became, at one point Walmart was number five on Twitter’s list of trending topics.151 If you were a Walmart communications executive, how might you deal with this kind of public relations nightmare?

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