# What do you boycott? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024 "2008-01-25T22:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/21 "2008-01-26T00:51:48Z")
[QUOTE=Baldwin] Wal-mart. It’s not just the evil corporate angle; when I’ve been in there, it’s a depressing place. Nobody seems happy. There’s an amazing abundance of cheap crap. It’s probably hard to find a major corporation that’s not doing _something_ evil. I won’t buy Nike products, but I’m probably making other purchases that support the child sex trade or death squads or something. [/QUOTE] I agree about Nike. They are horrible to their employee’s and are one of the worst companies around. I don’t buy them at all. ---
**Author:** ![drm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e57/32.png) [@drm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drm)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/22 "2008-01-26T00:57:48Z")
Wal Mart - as a rule I don’t like places where you can purchase eggs and a DVD player at the same place. I also don’t like the fact that it tends to run small specialty stores out of business. I like the shopping experience that the small intimate stores provide me. Future Shop - I’ve never met a single salesperson that knew what the hell they were talking about. Fast food restaurants in which eating healthy is next to impossible. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/23 "2008-01-26T01:01:51Z")
Wally world, I can feel my I.Q. dropping the instant I walk through the doors Chrysler products; thanks to them screwing me over with my '02 Neon Microsoft; I’m an old school Mac fanatic, been using the Mac ever since '84, and the Apple II series before the Mac, I still see microsoft as “The Enemy” Ford products; '88 Ford Escort, need I say more? ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Fun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a9adbd/32.png) [@Mike\_Fun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Fun)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/24 "2008-01-26T01:31:41Z")
Nantucket Nectar juices. They used to (still might, don’t know) put little factoids on the bottle caps. Back in '99 or so I got one that said Daniel Webster wrote the first American dictionary. Being both a New Hampshire resident and and a trivia buff, I knew that Noah Webster was the dictionary guy, and Daniel was the politician. I emailed them to politely point out the error of their ways and and got a very generic response back that seemed like they didn’t actually read my email. So I emailed them again expressing my disappointment that they either didn’t read my email or wouldn’t admit to being wrong. I got \*another \* email back thanking me for being a juice guy but again ignoring my pointing out the error on their bottle cap. So I emailed them back and told them that if they didn’t admit their mistake, I wouldn’t buy their product anymore. No response. I stopped being a juice guy. I know this is pretty petty, but you have to draw the line somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/25 "2008-01-26T01:35:01Z")
Burma. I’ll not go there until the junta is out! I’m not holding my breath, though. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/26 "2008-01-26T01:40:38Z")
[QUOTE=Mahaloth] I agree about Nike. They are horrible to their employee’s and are one of the worst companies around. [/QUOTE] There’s a Nike factory in Cambodia. The wages they pay would be considered starvation wages in the West by anyone’s standard. However, by Cambodian standards these guys are getting some pretty fat paychecks, and the staff are quite happy. The employees even at one point a few years ago rallied against some “do-gooders” who had traveled to the country to “help” the employees protest against their “oppressively low” wages. The employees made it clear they were doing just fine. So sometimes you have to take these things in the context of the local environment. If they WERE being paid Western wages, there’d be a constant staff turnover, because they’d all retire “wealthy” after just a couple of months. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/27 "2008-01-26T01:46:04Z")
[QUOTE=Jophiel] My wife’s engagement ring came from an estate sale which was a lucky way to solve the issue that I hate **DeBeers** and didn’t want to buy a first-hand diamond. [/QUOTE] I thought I would be the first to say **diamonds**. I won’t buy any, because it’s not just DeBeers or the problem of blood diamonds, it’s the total manipulation of the market that I find creepy (your wife being a case in point). I love beautiful rings; just don’t give me a diamond. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/28 "2008-01-26T02:12:57Z")
[QUOTE=SpoilerVirgin] I thought I would be the first to say **diamonds**. I won’t buy any, because it’s not just DeBeers or the problem of blood diamonds, it’s the total manipulation of the market that I find creepy (your wife being a case in point). I love beautiful rings; just don’t give me a diamond. [/QUOTE] Well, my DeBeers angle comes from, as you said, the market manipulation as well as conflict diamonds and the made up “tradition” of the diamond engagement ring, etc. Word of experience: Telling your girlfriend that she’s a tool of the diamond marketing cartels doesn’t earn you the thanks you so richly deserve. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sprockets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/35a633/32.png) [@Sprockets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sprockets)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/29 "2008-01-26T02:26:22Z")
Kentucky Fried Chicken and pretty much all other fast food restaurants, except for a very occasional coffee at McDonald’s drive-through. Pet stores that sell live animals. ---
**Author:** ![Viridiana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Viridiana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viridiana)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/30 "2008-01-26T02:27:10Z")
Well, they’re all things I don’t like/aren’t around anyway (walmart, domino’s, blockbuster, etc), except maybe Bristol Farms, I’m not sure. There’re often labor picketers there so I’ve never gone in. I try to avoid any Apple product. 🙂 My sweetie boycotts grapes. And I’m sure neither of us would want to buy a market diamond. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/31 "2008-01-26T02:31:31Z")
[QUOTE=Sprockets] Pet stores that sell live animals. [/QUOTE] Who would buy the other kind? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/32 "2008-01-26T02:46:11Z")
I don’t mean to start a debate, but I’ve often read that Walmart’s bad reputation is not entirely deserved. Atlantic Monthly [ran an article on Walmart a couple of years ago](http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200606/wal-mart) which challenged some presuppositions: > [@Atlantic Monthly](#): > > What the war against Wal-Mart tends to gloss over is that it’s not at all clear that the company behaves any worse than its competitors. When it comes to payroll and benefits, Wal-Mart’s median hourly wage pretty much tracks the national median wage for general merchandise retail jobs. And its health-care benefits are a good deal more accessible, if still not entirely affordable, than those of many of its competitors. Target, for instance—unlike Wal-Mart, to which it is often compared—does not offer benefits to part-timers. A recent report on the company by Jason Furman, a visiting scholar at New York University and a former Clinton health-care official, dubbed Wal-Mart a “progressive success story,” noting that “more Wal-Mart employees are eligible for health insurance than in the retail sector as a whole and even slightly more than the nationwide total.” So, I guess I won’t boycott Walmart until I get a better reason for doing so. ---
**Author:** ![Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/54ee81/32.png) [@Kneepants\_Erasmus\_the\_Humanist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kneepants_Erasmus_the_Humanist)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/33 "2008-01-26T02:50:12Z")
First the obvious ones- Wal-mart (anti-union, rather evil), Starbucks, and pretty much every other huge corporate coffee chain (I love my indie coffee shops and hate to see them killed off. And now that Starbucks is selling music and has their own label, they are fucking with indie record stores as well.) Whole Foods (anti-union, their propensity to buy all rivals) Nestle (reasons in OP) Nike (and I try to avoid buying anything made in China) I try my damndest to avoid anything tested on animals. I try to avoid shopping at huge chains in general. I am lucky to live in a place with plenty of local shops, so I don’t really have to try that hard. I’ll think of more later. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/34 "2008-01-26T02:55:48Z")
Wal-mart, if I can avoid it. Stuff mentioned above, plus I just have a general dislike for department stores, and Wal-mart turns me off worse than most (hell, the one in Yarmouth doesn’t even have a proper floor, just bare cement.) Radio Shack/The Source (again, if I can avoid it). I’ve had more electronics from there not work than work, plus the staff generally knows as much about the merchandise as my mother, and I don’t think she even knows how to plug in a mouse. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/35 "2008-01-26T03:04:09Z")
Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise, for their beliefs. Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, any Wayans, Jack Black… are we sensing a theme here? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/36 "2008-01-26T03:05:37Z")
I boycott meat from industrial farming. [QUOTE=Siam Sam] Who would buy the other kind? 😕 [/QUOTE] Pet stores should be in the business of selling pet _supplies_. Animal lovers in general agree that live animals in shops (especially mammals) suffer a lot of stress from being in a strange environment, from the strange people handling them, ticking on the glass, etcetera. Young dogs and cats in store windows are usually separated from their moms, as that ups their “awww, c’mere you” factor. And that adds considerably to their stress. With all that stress, they are also more likely to get sick or even die in a store. Also, the likelyhood for an animal to be bought on an impulse, by an owner (or his kids) who will tire of it quickly and treat it badly, is much higher there. Animal lovers in general agree that buying a cat or a dog should be a matter of planning beforehand what animal you would like to have, and then find, and meet with a responsible breeder. (Or just someone whose pet had a litter). You can then observe your prospective pet with its mother and siblings as to have an estimate of its temperament. You can make sure the breeder provided adequate medical care. And you can arrange with the breeder to take the cat or dog home with you at an age where they would naturally separate themselves from their parents, so, not too early. All these precautions still led to me getting a neurotic cat, but hey, that wasn’t on the label. 🙂 I’m not sure about the ethics of buying the more simple-minded birds and mice in pet stores, though. Mice seem to do reasonably well in pet-stores, as do budgies. ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/37 "2008-01-26T03:20:03Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Who would buy the other kind? 😕 [/QUOTE] I wish to register a complaint! 😃 I try not to shop at walmart, for their predatory business practices as well as the fact that shopping there just sucks. I’m not too happy with Triumph Motorcycles’ warranty pay (there’s a recall on rocket 3’s that pays 9 minutes for over 35 minutes work, for example). And they just charge too damn much for parts, IMO. Going to be hard not buying from them after my [little](http://www.flickr.com/photos/12560060@N05/2204191821/) [mishap](http://www.flickr.com/photos/12560060@N05/2204984454/) a week ago Monday though,(I’m fine, just a bit stiff and sore). Remember, boys and girls, WEAR YOUR PROTECTIVE GEAR AT ALL TIMES! Still, I try to buy aftermarket, especially since most maintenance items aren’t made by them and are available from other vendors for much less. I also try to avoid patronizing companies that receive a low score on the HRC’s [Buying For Equality guide](http://www.hrc.org/buyersguide/). ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/38 "2008-01-26T03:33:18Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] Wal-Mart, god I hate that place, and everything it stands for. I can’t think of anything else that I purposely refuse to buy on political or social grounds. [/QUOTE] It’s a total non-negotiable with me, too. My sister dragged me inside one once and I practically closed my eyes and refused to even look. No Walmart. It’s the Law. ---
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/39 "2008-01-26T03:36:09Z")
[QUOTE=Maastricht] I’m not sure about the ethics of buying the more simple-minded birds and mice in pet stores, though. Mice seem to do reasonably well in pet-stores, as do budgies. [/QUOTE] Don’t forget the separation anxiety suffered by the goldfish. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2008, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024/40 "2008-01-26T03:55:59Z")
[QUOTE=Carol Stream] Don’t forget the separation anxiety suffered by the goldfish. [/QUOTE] Are you always this witty? Ha, ha, those crazy sentimental animal lovers. :rolleyes: Well, since you brought up the [topic.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldfish)of goldfish, let’s hear it from Wiki: > [@](#): > > The popular image of a goldfish in a small fishbowl (**as sold by many pet stores, added by me )** is an enduring one. Unfortunately, the risk of stunting, deoxygenation, ammonia/nitrite poisoning caused by such a small environment means that this is hardly a suitable home for any species of fish, and some countries have banned the sale of bowls of that type under animal rights legislation. The supposed reputation of goldfish dying quickly is often due to poor care amongst uninformed buyers looking for a cheap pet. The true lifespan of a well-cared-for goldfish in captivity can extend beyond 10 years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-boycott/435024.md?page=3)