Beyond obvious deal-breakers (like a business that donates lots of money to causes that you find hugely objectionable), does it bug you enough that a company expresses contrary political views that you feel you must shop elsewhere?
I run into this question sometimes as a gardener. For instance, there’s an heirloom seed firm that has a rather weird libertarian bent and appears to love Ron Paul (quotes from him and similar types are sprinkled through their catalog). I don’t appreciate this, but damn, they have some good seeds you can’t find elsewhere.
Another seed company has a catalog full of quotations from Emma Goldman and other leftist and/or anarchist figures. Not my thing, but it’s a great seed source.
Yet another mail-order gardening firm has gotten into trouble for frisky catalog commentary that has grievously offended customers (for instance, they sell a variety of ornamental sage (Salvia “Black and Blue”) which the owner has referred to as “Domestic Violence Salvia”, a brand of humor not appreciated by some).
And of course there are companies all over that just can’t keep religious proselytizing out of their websites or catalogs.
How much leeway do you give companies like this if you like their products?
As long as they’re not “in your face” or excessive about it, I don’t care. For example, I will gladly eat an In-N-Out burger despite the bible verses on their packaging (I’m an atheist). I would probably make the same exception for Chick-Fil-A, although we don’t have any around here so there’s no opportunity.
It’s a sliding scale based on how much I like the product and how much I care about the issue. So, the little prayer cards I get on Alaska Airlines are not a deal breaker, but if the local car repair place was pushing against gay marriage or marijuana legalization, I’d find another shop.
I sometimes wonder if I should avoid buying Kellogg’s cereals, due to John Harvey Kellogg’s anti-masturbation child torture practices. But since he’s been dead for almost 70 years, I’m not sure there is anything logical about that.
It depends on the product. Any kind of gardening product I expect to see some hippy-dippy stuff about saving the earth. If we all plant more <blank> we can end poverty which is caused by <blank>, kind of thing. This can’t avoid veering into politics somewhat. I would avoid catalogs with religious proselytizing or extreme politics unless I couldn’t find the products elsewhere. I’ve never met a catalog I wouldn’t buy from if I just had to have the item though.
If there was a Chick-Fil-A around here, I wouldn’t patronize it. But I did go to one last month (in a different city), mostly because lunch options weren’t great that day. And I was a little curious about their food.
I don’t care about slogans or signs in catalogs or shop windows or whatever. But if I find out that a company is donating a significant amount of money to a politician or organization I dislike, I may think twice about shopping there, just to keep my money from going there even indirectly.
Same here, to the largest extent possible within the confines of comfort.
On the extreme side (for certain definitions of extreme) I will not use any product that advertises on Hate Radio. I had a paid Mozy account several years ago, but when I heard their ads on Rush I cancelled the account and sent them an email explaining why (never did get a response, which was strange because their service was otherwise excellent). I’m not letter-happy and will just avoid what I hear. Nor do I listen to the show with anything but accidental or happenstance, so it’s imperfect.
Bible verses on my chicken or burger? WTF? I think there was a doughnut shop around here (Bess Eaton?) that did something similar. Easy enough to avoid, but that’s getting into a grey areas.
Company owner does nothing more than express support? Tricky. I wouldn’t want to cut off business relationships with people that I have political disagreements with. That would be silly and unproductive in a political plurality. But when that business supports something I find particularly heinous (e.g. undermining democracy such as Rush or Fox) and I’m aware enough, I’ll look to their competitors if I can.
..keeping in mind it’s not a crusade, it’s a preference.
Places that espouse views that actively try to hurt me and mine don’t get a penny from me. Places that simply have a different view, I’ll continue to patronize until they cross the line.
It depends upon how in your face they are about it. There was a little coffee shop I really liked when I still lived in Alaska. I finally had to stop going there because of their insulting political signs, writings etc. They always had the political leanings, but toward the end it was all basically “anyone who doesn’t believe in candidate X the way we do is an evil moron”.
I just couldn’t see supporting that with my business. One anti “your side” piece of art in particular was the straw the broke the camel’s back and I never returned after that. In fact, I saw the sign and walked out for the last time without buying anything.
It is extremely rare when I even know the political leanings of the companies I do business with, much less care enough to stop doing business with them.
It’s a matter of alternatives for me; where else can I take my business?
Most laundry detergents are more enzyme+scent+water than soap now-a-days, so I bought Dr. Bronner’s Pure Castille soap because it’s the only formula that will wash my deerskin pants without eating through them and I just have to ignore the trite puritan quotes all over the Bronners’ bottle. (It’s such tiny print that I can’t read it anyway.)
When I learned JP Morgan/Chase bank was sanctioned after doing business with Cuba for years (in violation of US Government sanctions that go back for decades), I felt it was finally time to switch to a credit union. It wasn’t the Cuba question that irritated me when I learned about it, it was the defiance-of-one’s-own-government-because-the-profit-outweighs-the-sanctions attitude that sent me in search of another place to store my income.
When I learned the Reagan Administration concocted a Triangle Trade scheme to exchange cocaine for guns for payments to Iran I was pretty pissed off that the CIA and the military would defy a Senate/House resolution issued only weeks earlier. However, it wasn’t real easy for me to just pick up and move to another country, so I resigned myself to living in the American States. But later, when Bush Sr. killed the hearings, investigations, and any possibility of generating discussion, penalties, or even simple understanding of the Affair, I stopped believing the Republican Party was working in the best interests of the general public and I changed my voting registration.
. —G!
Business as Usual
Day After Day
Business as Usual
Feel Like Walkin’ Away
. --Don Henley (The Eagles)
. Business as Usual
. Long Road out of Eden
For the most part, I don’t care. Sure, if I found out that some business supported the American Nazi party or something like that, yeah, I’d go elsewhere. Otherwise, I don’t care if they support Democrats or Republicans or push certain policies since I usually have brand loyalty for good reasons, and while I generally don’t care for certain parties or whatever, I can work those angles in other ways. However, if I don’t have a particularly strong loyalty and I find out a business does something I have stronger feelings for, I will consider changing my patronage to or away from them when possible. But that’s generally pretty rare because if I don’t have some sort of brand loyalty, I don’t know enough about them to know their politics.