Do You Boycott?
 

Do you boycott companies if the representatives or employees express viewpoints or engage in practices that you disagree with?

What does it take for you to boycott a company?

Do you never boycott companies?

What say you, GCers?

I was reading a blog about boycotting Chick-Fil-A because of views and practices regarding LGBT and same-sex marriage. Google "boycott chick fil a" and you will find some interesting things.

I will not be boycotting Chick-Fil-A because I do not like Chick-Fil-A in the first place---except their waffle fries but I can get some fresh out of the salty fryer McDonald's fries if necessary. On one hand, people are not relegated to saying and doing what others agree with. On the other hand, when we express viewpoints there is always the chance that our viewpoints and actions will be discovered and responded to.

I hate you.

But yes, I will, but it depends on four things:
1. How strongly I feel about the issue.
2. The availability of comparable good/services in my area (and whether I can afford any price jumps).
3. Their response to public accusations/backlash.
4. Other, related parties. For example: it doesn't take much for me to either cut my spending at or boycott a company that donates to Focus on the Family, because James Dobson is a piece of shit and Focus on the Family really is a hate group, and I've felt that way for years.

That said, I voted for "No one is holding these companies back but them." and I think you know why.

I won't go on a crusade against a company, but if they are actively supporting things that I don't believe in, I won't be a customer. There are TONS of alternatives to everything in my area, so the corporate monopolies are few and far between. I'm not the "HEY FACEBOOK FOLLOWERS. DON'T BUY NIKE BECAUSE OF SWEATSHOPS" guy.

I said to myself "agzg voted for the 4th option."

Focus on the Family makes some good points and does some good things but there also some things that breed bigotry and social exclusion.

FYP.

I do boycott companies if I believe strongly against the company values. There is only one company that I currently boycott... Walmart.

I'm ok with people boycotting. I'm not ok with people insisting that others do as well. I'm also really, REALLY sick of Facebook activism and people thinking tgey're accomplishing something by sharing meme after meme with their own two cents thrown in.

LOL.

I will let you have that. I am not familiar enough with James Dobson to draw that conclusion.

Amen.

There have been a couple of times over the years that I have had the horrible experience of overlooking my boycott due to having to make a purchase at Walmart or I was at an event where items were purchased at Walmart. Horrible experiences indeed.

i wouldn't call it a boycott because i don't care if other people go in there. i'm not trying to get other people to join me in protest or anything. i don't care if the business knows that it bothers me or not. but if i disagree with them in principle, i won't go in there.

a local bar that does a band dirty

a national chain that spends millions on a moral/political issue i disagree with

a worldwide brand that assembles its most popular product in a country where people would rather kill themselves then continue to work there (iphone/china. and they put in giant nets to catch the jumpers. they won't even let you die, but they'll cut that baby right out of you. hypocrisy)

diamonds bought with blood and the artificial inflation of prices through control of supply.


honestly, if Chick-fil-A is anti-gay marriage, they have a right to say so. i'm not gonna be the one to change their minds, anyway. but i don't want my money supporting any political/moral stance, particularly one they have no business talking about. i liked the dixie chicks alright, but i don't care if they hate bush, just sing. i like chick-fil-a's food, but they'd be better off supporting a charity and doing something positive. their position on being closed on Sundays directly affects me, though. so fuck em.

My parents raised me to boycott. There are so many things I've boycotted over the years, but I have to feel passionate about the issue.

For example, there's a "don't buy anything made in China" for the month of August. My little dog died of the exact symptoms that the Waggin' Trails treats have been exposed to cause. Made in China, they dehydrated chicken strips with ARSENIC! So yes, I will be joining in on that boycott.

Oh snap.

Focus on the Family may be turning more moderate and moving away from hate group territory (I remain dubious), but it's close enough that I still get incredulous whenever anyone lets Dobson speak on any LGBT issues. Same with Perkins from FotF's sister group, the Family Research Council, which is a hate group.

Sometimes you do not have to stop patronizing a place. Sometimes you can express your discontent and some companies will respond to keep your business. I have complained to a business about its racially bigoted (disguised as anti-Bush liberal Democrat humor) advertising. They were wise to discard of the advertising while I was still in the store and apologize that their inappropriate humor offended me. I appreciated their quick response and that the owner and employees did not give me the "we do what we please" speech. I still patron the store sometimes but I still am shocked that they thought that advertisment was a good idea in the first place.

Can you and AlphaFrog please explain what this means? LOL.

:eek:

This is what I mean by my #3. Doubling down on idiocy is a surefire way to lose my business.

A local bookstore had "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell" on display as a Staff Pick, and I explained to the manager that I had, up until that point, considered her staff to be generally helpful and knowledgeable, and that pick had changed my opinion. She said it was a joke, and actually took it down while I was still in the store.

I sometimes boycott a company, but won't tell others to do the same. If I don't agree with the stance a company takes on certain issues, I won't buy from them if other options are available. If I don't have the option to go elsewhere, I will make it known if I find their stance truly offensive.

If you're being serious, a great example is a guy who literally spends aaaalllllllll day posting, sharing, and commenting on anti-religion, mainly Christian (who he refers to as Christ-insanes), Jewish, and Muslim. He also does the same for anti-GOP and refers to them as "Republitards" or "Republiscum". In his clinically-insane little heart he really, truly believes he is fighting the good fight and being a voice for the voiceless. Of course, he also lives in his car and sings on the streetcorner for a living, so, there's that. I'm sure the local McD's is sick of him buying one $1 tea and spending all day there on their WiFi.


Oh, and in case you're wondering he's only still on my list because we have mutual connections and he's been known to slander me to those people and I like to be able to know about it and report it.

For those who say they will not tell others that they are boycotting a company and/or will not expect ("hope"--you cannot force anyone to do anything) others to boycott a company:

Are there ever exceptions to this?

Is there ever a time when someone is patronizing a company and you think they are being a foolish consumer?

Is there ever a time when you feel you cannot avoid telling people that they are being foolish consumers?

Okay, thanks. I was definitely serious because I do not know what people do on faceboook. LOL.

So, when is someone truly being a voice for the voiceless? When are people not being over the top and annoying? Is it only when people agree with their stance?

If I am TRULY against a company, I may mention it to my friends in passing, but k_s not agreeing =/= k_s' friends not agreeing. Generally, I will just take my business elsewhere. My friends are grown and can shop where they want.

If you frequent Nike (for example) and I'm against it, I won't berate you for wearing the shoes. I will mention it if we're having a relevant discussion about child labor laws or something, though.

I understand.

If you told a friend or family member that Nike employs 5 year old children in poorer countries and the friend or family member says "those damn ghetto foreigner kids better get back to work then" and keeps wearing Nike, would that shape your opinion of (Nike and) that friend or family member?

Would it shape my opinion of Nike? No.

My friends and family members who would respond with something like that are doing it to prompt a discussion or bitchfest, so I'd "know" it was coming and would engage that person. It wouldn't be an "OMG WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS NOW" thing, though.

Well, I think it has more to do with them (and not just my example, but "them") thinking that they are actually contributing to society with their Facebook page. Also, when I see the same person post more than about three memes in the same day on the same subject I want to roll my eyes regardless of what the subject is. There are Fan pages for EVERYTHING, and if I wanted to see fuzzy puppies all day, I'd subscribe to the Fuzzie Puppies fan page.

This.

I may say something if the subject comes up, or if a friend asks why I won't buy there, but no Facebook-posting sprees here.

For me, it's none of the above. The answer is sometimes, but it doesn't depend on how badly I need the service, but the nexus between the company's profits and the action it is taking that I oppose.

The fact that a CEO is donating his own money or endorsing candidates I don't like will not usually cause me to boycott. But the company's discriminatory hiring practices or donations to hateful causes will make me boycott.

I don't go to Chik-fil-A often, but there is one near my workplace, and I might have gone there for an occasional treat if I hadn't learned about the boycott on Facebook. So I don't mind that at all.

How dare you! :p Rock the vote!

Is this how you determine the nexus between profits and actions? Determining the nexus should require research on the profit and how the actions impact the profit.

This is a good distinction.

An example I always think of is Whole Foods, because I support much of their work toward sustainability and such, but I do not support many of the owner's political opinions and his treatment of labor.

Profit wasn't the right word -- I meant revenue. If the company is using its revenue to operate, or donate to, things I don't like, I don't want to add to that revenue stream.

I don't claim to apply this perfectly. When I shop at a grocery or department store, I generally don't know the story behind individual products. It's a lot easier to track in a case like Chik-fil-A where the retailer and the products come from the same company.

This is our family thought tree on the matter.

I always try to make the most ethical (according to my criteria) choice when faced with alternatives. If I don't have an alternative - living in the middle-of-nowhere-TN - then I do what I have to do (in that case, go to Walmart).

My gripe is with those who believe whatever they have seen on the internet or hear from a friend without checking it out - a la the whole "Don't carry a Liz Claiborne purse! They are satanists!" urban myth thing.

I am much more likely to patronize businesses because they champion causes and views I believe in.

I boycott all sorts of businesses and mention it to people if they want me to patronize that business or if it comes up in conversation.

If y'all haven't seen the parody video about Chik-fil-h8 I previously posted, here is the link http://youtu.be/sO-msplukrw Probably not safe for a lot of workplaces

I chose Always, although that's not pristinely true. There are times when I am so incensed by a company's stupitude (Chik-fil-A) that I will boycott them and talk about it, share it on FB, etc. Many more times, I will consider them something to avoid if possible. I don't like Walmart's practices and will choose Target, or other when given a choice. But I'm not going to actively boycott them because I don't care that badly. You just can't care that badly about everything!

I won't be eating at Chik-fil-A again, or until something dramatic happens. However, with them being a mostly red state fast food chain (perception maybe?), this outing of themselves as homophobes might work to their favor. I did notice that the line at the new Chik-fil-A at Fashion Island which had long lines 2 weeks ago (it was new) has no lines now at lunch time. But I'm not willing to say those behind the Orange Curtain are boycotting. Likely, they had a 3-days worth of calories splurge at the opening and now it's back to more healthy lunches. But I could be wrong and it really is distate for bigotry that's holding people back.

The only other thing I can think of that I've actively boycotted for a long time was Tom Cruise movies. I rescinded that so that I could see Rock of Ages, and I'm on the fence about whether he gets my future entertainment dollars or not. He (or more likely his publicist) seems to have shoved a sock in it to keep him from preaching the word every day and as loud as he can. Your religion is your own business, but when you tell women not to treat post partum depression in every way possible, you've overstepped.

And that's sort of how I choose. You're allowed to be Republican, Christian, anti-choice or whatever other thing I don't agree with, but once you start hurting people's lives with intention, then that's a different thing.

What do you have against Republicans and Christians, DubaiSis?

There's a little push back on the Chick-Fil-A. My bff from 7th grade posted a "Let's Eat at Chik-Fil-A" counter-protest on her FB feed. Apparently, evangelicals are making a point to eat there on August 1 to support their stance.

I didn't eat at Chick-Fil-A before this, because their super-strict religious nuttiness was pretty well known before this. I also don't eat at Cracker Barrel or shop at Hobby Lobby. That's because I don't believe in their particular brand of religious/political activism. (They're free to believe it. I'm free not to support it.)

I also don't buy any food that has imported ingredients from China. After the Chinese kid died of poisoned milk chocolate and the pets died, I went on a major campaign to make sure that any food that comes into our house does not include ingredients sourced in China. I emailed a ton of companies. I also don't buy dishes or cookware or utensils that were made in China for the same reasons. My kids frequently hear "Don't put that toy in your mouth. It was made in China." (It's hard to find toys that aren't made in China.)

I haven't made up my mind about Nike or Apple or other companies that make products elsewhere. On the one hand, they should treat their workers better. On the other hand, bad jobs are sometimes better than no jobs. I just don't know. I avoid their products when I can, but I don't boycott them.

I've previously supported Komen, but they can piss off. My money will go to American Cancer Society, or straight to Planned Parenthood, instead.

It's not that I have anything AGAINST them, I just don't agree. And I'm ok with not agreeing, until it gets to a certain point when I feel compelled to fight back. Group think is not good anywhere on the spectrum so I'm more than happy to hear an alternative viewpoint, unless it includes restricting people's rights or spouting hate as jokes or "it's just my opinion." And this is the same way I think of boycotts. The people at Chik-fil-A can think whatever they want, but when they donate large sums of money to ensure that people's rights are restricted, that's a different thing. And as a corporation, they have to know that money talks.

But speaking of blowback, did anyone see the thing on Facebook about boycotting Progressive Insurance because they're too liberal? That Cuhracked me up. The company's name is PROGRESSIVE and somebody was surprised that they are progressive. I have several friends who said, good to know. I'll be looking at them when it's time to renew my insurance. Whether these things move market share, I don't know.

A couple years after we got married, my ex-husband got strange and became obsessed with televangelists and was giving LOTS of money to that guy and the Joyce lady. It totally freaked me out.

My "boycotting" has been minimal. I don't donate to Komen anymore, as someone else mentioned, but that's not really a boycott. It's just a choice of who gets my charity dollars. I usually know people doing the Avon 2 Day and donate to that anyway. The only tine I really boycotted somewhere, it was a local restaurant after they'd been extremely rude to us.

We'd had breakfast there and our bill came to $10.34 or something like that. My ex (we were dating actually, before we got married) gave the cashier $20.34. She closed the drawer without giving him change. He pointed out to her that he'd given her a $20 and she argued with him. He had her get the manager who said "Leave your name and if the drawer is $10 over at the end of the day, we'll call you." Umm, no. My ex told them to count the drawer now and give him his change. They did. It was $10 over and they threw a ten dollar bill at him with no apology or anything. Did I mention we ate breakfast there EVERY Sunday and the waitresses all knew our order by heart? We were regulars. They should have trusted us or at least been gracious when they made the mistake. We never went there again and it bummed me out because they made the best omelettes. We did tell friends about our experience but I don't know if they stopped eating there or not.

I am trying to avoid AT&T and I avoided Comcast for a long time. However, when they were offering all the same services as a different cable/internet company for half the cost, I did end up with Comcast again. I'm not going to cut off my nose to spite my face, I guess. I just don't trust them much and I watch my bills very carefully.

I'm boycotting Chik Fil A because they don't have a restaurant around here. I've been boycotting them since before it was cool....lol.