Ashton Kutcher Stands Up for Wal-Mart Workers Rights… What?

Yesterday, while the rest of the world was captivated by a twerking turkey, Ashton Kutcher faced off with Wal-Mart over the retail giant’s low wages. On Twitter. Because of course it was on Twitter.

The Twitter showdown started when Kutcher tweeted criticism of an Ohio Wal-Mart’s holiday drive for its own employees who are facing “unforeseen hardships.”

For reasons we don’t understand, Wal-Mart responded:

And again, we don’t know why, but the What Happens in Vegas star fired back:

To which, Wal-Mart sent Kutcher a promo video (because really, what’s more convincing than a self-produced promotional video):

Naturally, Demi Moore’s ex-husband responded with real financial news that kind of makes a point here:

Then WalMart had a pretty defensive series of responses:

And Wal-Mart had one final super PR tweet:

The specific Wal-Mart in Ohio that Kutcher was initially referring to has hosted a drive for its employees for a few years, was not designed to help those chronically in need, and has benefitted about 12 employees, a Wal-Mart representative told ABC News.

But the fact is, and we kind of hate ourselves for saying this, Ashton Kutcher has a point. The fact is that Wal-Mart has a bad record with workers rights. Just this Monday, the National Labor Relations Board found that Wal-Mart illegally disciplined and fired employees over strikes and protests, spanning more than a dozen states.

Specifically with regard to the wage issue, more than half of Wal-Mart’s employees make less than $25,000 a year. A “progressive” think tank, Desmos, released a study that found that Wal-Mart could afford to give employees raises up to $5.83 per hour without having to raise store prices. The study was dismissed by a Wal-Mart representative to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

So wait, go Ashton Kutcher?