# Best Buy Fascists? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 19, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247 "2015-01-19T02:30:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/1 "2015-01-19T02:30:52Z")
I just saw a [Best Buy commercial](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%22best+buy%22+%22blue+shirt%22) where they referred to their employees as ‘Blue Shirts’. (I didn’t find the specific one; just linking examples of the campaign.) I heard of ‘Blueshirts’ in The Pogues’ _The Boys From The County Hell_. So to me, Best Buy is calling back the [Blueshirts](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueshirts). Their leader ‘was an admirer of Benito Mussolini, and the Blueshirts adopted corporatism as their chief political aim.’ Also, ‘[s]ome of its members would go on to aid the Fascists during the Spanish Civil War.’ So now, when I think of Best Buy, I’ll always think of Fascists. . ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/2 "2015-01-19T02:35:24Z")
I don’t buy anything from Best Buy. My last three or four times trying to buy an advertised item there ended in failure due to the bait and switch corporate philosophy. I haven’t been in a BB store for years. I will pay more money for an item elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/3 "2015-01-19T02:35:52Z")
Does this means we should call it **Pest Buy**?!? ---
**Author:** ![mind\_the\_gap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@mind\_the\_gap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mind_the_gap)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/4 "2015-01-19T04:05:18Z")
I have no love for Best Buy. Never thought they were worth much as a source. But at least they don’t refer to their employees as “Red Shirts”. (He’s dead, Jim.) ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/5 "2015-01-19T04:08:42Z")
Pay more elsewhere? In what universe? BB prices on everything but a few advertised loss leaders are on the high side. ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/6 "2015-01-19T04:56:50Z")
[Improv Everywhere visits Best Buy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_217640&feature=iv&src_vid=utkkXCF8ZVc&v=KgUIbPfhSuo). ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/7 "2015-01-19T05:48:16Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Pay more elsewhere? In what universe? BB prices on everything but a few advertised loss leaders are on the high side. Yeah, with online shopping (and Amazon Prime) there’s really no reason to set foot into a Best Buy unless you need something _right fucking now_. I’ve been there once in the last 5 years, for an HDMI cable emergency (we prefer to use Monoprice). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/8 "2015-01-19T05:58:55Z")
So Target are commies (and/or expendable), Starbucks are Hungarian fascists (or see below, or greenaprons)? Home Depot employees are [del]Irish[/del] **Northern Ireland British** loyalists? I can’t feel safe anywhere now! O’Duffy also did the greenshirts, but they were less popular. My main reason to go to Best Buy is when I get a gift card. Or if you need to test whether some part is bad and take advantage of the return policy, which is a much bigger pain with Amazon/Newegg. Otherwise, no. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/9 "2015-01-19T12:48:32Z")
They’ve referred to their retail employees as Blueshirts for at least twenty years. I doubt they get the ties to fascism, or care since very few of their customers or employees would either. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/10 "2015-01-19T13:17:03Z")
That is a bit of a stretch. The Irish blueshirts lasted less than 2 years in the 1930s. It’s a minor piece of history even in Ireland let alone the US. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/11 "2015-01-19T14:19:30Z")
It’s the UPS drivers I’d be worried about. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/12 "2015-01-19T15:00:07Z")
To paraphrase Freud, “Sometimes a blue shirt is just a blue shirt.” ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/13 "2015-01-19T15:04:00Z")
Well, at least the check-out lines well be quick and efficient. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/14 "2015-01-19T16:30:34Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That is a bit of a stretch. The Irish blueshirts lasted less than 2 years in the 1930s. It’s a minor piece of history even in Ireland let alone the US. Fine Gael are still widely referred to colloquially as “Blueshirts” though. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/15 "2015-01-19T16:39:04Z")
I’m sure most US Best Buy commercial watchers aren’t as tuned in to UK/Éire/Euro stuff as the OP is. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/16 "2015-01-19T20:39:11Z")
And Hooters are titalitarianists ---
**Author:** ![The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Holdsworth_Effect)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/17 "2015-01-20T14:27:44Z")
Group Health’s IT people are called Blue Shirts- or were, when we rolled out EPIC a little more than a decade ago. Now they just send emails ;). Doubt fascism there from all of us tofu fartin’ hippies (quote from right wing gun nut neighbor) ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/18 "2015-01-20T15:40:09Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > So now, when I think of Best Buy, I’ll always think of Fascists. You’re going to want to stay out of Staples and Verizon stores, then, because someone there is doomed to get killed by a phaser. Or you might run into **Der Trihs** , God forbid. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/19 "2015-01-20T15:46:21Z")
> [@Eutychus](#): > > It’s the UPS drivers I’d be worried about. Same here. Especially considering how many are blonde. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247/20 "2015-01-20T15:52:53Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Does this means we should call it **Pest Buy**?!? I prefer **Best Bund**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-buy-fascists/710247.md?page=2)