I make it a point to not get Papa John’s or Chick-fil-A but my consumption of them was going down before I started deliberately not going. Both are somewhat pricey, and Papa John’s was also unhealthy considering I’m single and ordering would involve eating a whole medium pizza, and I was getting tired of craving Chick-Fil-A and not being able to get any due to it being Sunday. But they are worth the raw price: they are better tasting than their chain competitors in my opinion.
Burger King once had a string of “BK Freak-Out” commercials where people would find out that they’re out of Whoppers or something and completely flip their shit. I suppose the lesson was supposed to “People love BK” but I read it as “Mentally deranged people are our target market” and stopped going to Burger King for about a year after that. I’d hate to have them think I’m in their target demo.
No. I’m too self-centered to care about the practices of other companies. If it’s cheaper for me, or more convenient for me then I shop there, eat there, whatever.
I don’t.
We do. We don’t buy anything produced by ConAgra, if we can help it, nor anything from companies owned by the Koch brothers. We don’t shop at Wal-Mart, either. It’s almost impossible to find any hard goods that aren’t made in China, but given a choice, we don’t purchase those, either.
There are some companies and artists and such that I make a point of not patronizing, but I don’t believe for a second that my money means anything in the long run. For those that I don’t, I’d like to believe that others would have enough conviction to follow suit, if it’s a big enough issue, and perhaps it will do something, but whether or not other people feel the same way and whether or not it has a real impact on their bottom line isn’t part of my reasoning.
For me, it’s just an ethical thing. In the same way I won’t vote for the lesser of two evils in an election, I’d rather vote for someone I believe in. I feel like I’m partially responsible for that politician’s actions because a vote is effectively an endorsement. Certainly, if it’s bad enough I’ll actively work against him, but not endorsing him is at least the first step. It’s the same way with companies for me too. If it’s just because their products are crappy, then not giving them my money is enough. If a company actually is doing something I very much don’t believe in, I’ll not only not give them my money, but I’ll mention my opinion when appropriate.
All of that said, I’m generally not going to go against a particular company for general political reasons. It’s one thing if they just support a party or candidate I don’t agree with, but it’s something else if they’re actively pursuing laws or legal actions and such that I strongly disagree with.
So, for instance, I have some major issues with a lot of the copyright crap that the RIAA has been pursuing. I purchase a lot of music and music related merchandise, and fortunately the vast majority of the music I like isn’t on RIAA labels, but when I’m aware of it, I will not give them money. In fact, unless it’s a band or artist I already liked before they signed with one, I’ll even generally not make an effort to get into one on one of those labels. If I do feel forced to purchase anything, I’ll give them the minimum I can get away with, where I’m usually quite generous with my music purchases from other labels, as in, I’ll find the album on sale for $9.99, but for one I want to give my money to, I’ll buy the deluxe version and a shirt, or whatever.
I feel the same about the recent SOPA and PIPA stuff, and there was one or two companies that support it that I could switch my loyalty from. That said, there were a few that I don’t have a suitable replacement for, so I still use them, but even for them, I’ve looked at ways to minimize what I give them.
Yep I do. I’ve avoided some places for about thirty years now. I haven’t missed their stuff. Some things you can’t avoid altogether, because some companies own so much, but I only buy what I have to from them and avoid all their replaceable stuff. I won’t do without a one of a kind medicine , but I won’t buy the replaceable stuff. It’s the best you can do nowadays.
I don’t expect this to benefit anything but my very finite soul. I never heard of Chuck-fil-a until they chose to become notorious so I can’t really be said to be boycotting them. I have never been inside a Walmart, although there is one about two miles away. I don’t buy pizza from Papa John’s, Domino’s or any other pizza joint because what I make is far superior (if you get a chance, try pesto sauce, goat cheese, walnuts, wrinkled black olives, and parmesan cheese). And I try to avoid buying anything from Texas since they told Apple to stay out of the state because Apple gave full benefits to same sex partners. (I exaggerate: one town in Texas made that decision, but what the hell, there are many reasons to boycott Texas. If for no other reason than that they gave us W. And Ted Cruz.)
So you must have boycotted products from California after they passed Proposition 8, right?
Boycotting means hurting yourself alot more than you are hurting the company. My not buying Disney merchandise would hurt them not at all, but would make my life worse. So I do not participate in consumer boycotts.
I think they are just a way to feel good about yourself by hurting other people. I find helping others is a better way to feel good about myself.
How am I hurting myself? I buy a different brand of peanut butter or clothes or pizza or makeup. No big deal.
Similarly, if I hurt other people by not buying their products - by extension then that means I also hurt every other company in the world that I do not buy from, regardless of the reason. If I think a company makes shitty, worthless products, do I have to still buy from them so I won’t be hurting their precious bottom line? If not, why is it bad if I think they cause deep harm by creating those products and thus refuse to buy them?
Honestly, it’s a personal boycott, not an advocation of firebombing their factories/stores.
I won’t shop at Walmart. I wouldn’t eat at Chik-FilA but the reality is there’s not one near me.
I did boycott Exxon, but once they merged with Mobil I have bought Mobil gas.
I don’t go to Cracker Barrel, but that’s not an inconvenience because Cracker Barrel never intersects with my life somehow, even though they’re in the area. Same with Papa John’s.
One person doesn’t affect much, but a whole bunch of people not patronizing a business can hurt it. On the other hand, I know that the “War on Christmas” boycotts have always actually increased sales for the targeted companies.
So I don’t know if all of us in this thread have affected any change*, but at the same time I couldn’t use their services. One cause of stress is doing things that are at odds with your moral code, and I don’t need more stress.
*I suspect Exxon’s merger with Mobil, and nearly every Exxon getting rebranded, was a result of the loss of business from the Valdez. I also suspect there is no Chik-FilA near me because the Chicago area is fairly liberal, and a Chik-FilA near Chicago would be a bad investment.
Here’s one I did for many years, aimed at a whole industry (actually, the FDA) rather than an individual producer:
Remember the big Mad Cow scare a few years ago? Cattle growers began testing their herds for Mad Cow. The FDA came out with some rule that growers had to test some specific percentage (like 10% or so) of their herds.
There was a fuss in the news back then because one grower tested 100% of his herd, and made a point to advertise that fact. He wanted to be damn sure that none of his cattle were infected, and he also wanted to be damn sure that everyone knew it.
The FDA butted in and ordered him to back down. Test 10% and ONLY 10%, they said. This became a controversial issue. The “usual suspects”, that is, the people who claim that FDA is a sham outfit pwned by the industries they regulate, screamed about this.
I myself was very bothered that they would actively prevent any grower from offering that level of additional protection as they saw fit. Because of this, I pretty much boycotted the entire beef industry for many years.
Well, it’s not as though I choose between Papa Johns and hunger. However much I’m not helping PJ’s, I’m helping some other business in the food industry.
Those who say boycotting doesn’t do anything - what do you think about voting, then?
I don’t boycott anyone now. I used to try avoiding products made in China, back in the 90s when that was just hard as opposed to nearly impossible. My parents tried to get me to boycott companies that supported Planned Parenthood and my sister always wants to support Chick-fil-A, but nowadays I’m not really into picking stores based on philosophy.
Chik-Fil-A is the only one I’ve ever really supported in my mind, but since we don’t have it and I probably wouldn’t have been eating there anyways it doesn’t really mean jack shit. It wasn’t Dan Cathy that did it, though, since I figure there are lots of people with odious views in business and I really don’t care to micromanage all that. What gave me a visceral reaction against Chik-Fil-A was the anti-gay rallies that descended on the chain after the most recent controversy. Huge crowds that are there for the purpose of hating people like me aren’t the best advertisement in the world. (Again, not that it matters since I wasn’t going anyways.)
If ever there were a reason to boycott someone it would be these fuckers:
Companies that have delined to sign the Bangladesh Factory Safety Accord
Walmart
The Gap
Macy’s
Sears
JCPenney
The North Face
Target
Kohl’s
Made in the Shade
OshKosh
Nordstrom
American Eagle
The Children’s Place
Foot Locker.
It helps when you actually know about the company’s CEO. Herman Cain hasn’t ran Godfather’s in like a decade and hasn’t even owned shares in the company since 2009.
Utter nonsense.