We avoid Wal-Mart whenever possible, and I’ve gradually convinced Razorette that the locally-owned supermarket (well, OK, owned by a Nebraska company less than 200 miles away) has everything we need, including gourmet, whole-bean coffee and Weight Watchers frozen dinners (I call them MREs), plus their meat is final-cut on-premises, which means you can get custom cuts during most hours. Consequently, we’ve shifted most of our grocery shopping away from Wal-Mart and only visit there when we have no other choice.
I refuse to do business with the local Taco Bell because the owner is an asshole, but occasionally indulge when we’re shopping out of town.
There probably are others around town who have pissed me off personally, but I don’t think I actually boycott any company for political or public policy reasons.
My point about CiCi’s is not just that they throw away food – the throw away mountains of it. At my local Pizza Hut, they use some kind of steam tables or the like that keeps the pizza at the appropriate serving temperature. They’re not chucking it every 20 minutes.
I am Gay and once boycotted Coors as well. Then I met Holly Coors at a school where I was teaching and we had a long chat about that. She told me most of her family was upset that her nut uncle had taken the company in this direction and that it would change as soon as he stepped down. It did indeed and Coors now has one of the strongest anti-discrimination codes of any large company - and I was pleased to recently read that Holly is now the first female CEO of the company!
Now regarding the taste of the beer, well - that is another subject altogether - but the original anti-Gay discrimination policies have long since disappeared and they even donate quite a bit of money to Gay Pride Festivals throughout the US.
I boycott Carl’s Jr. as I was told by many in California that the owner donates vasts amount of money to right-wing causes and politicians. Plus, on my one visit before finding this out, the food was pretty horrible so it isn’t exactly hard to boycott them.
And regarding Walmart…sorry, but we shop there regularly. Quite simply, the food prices are easily 20% (or more) cheaper than most other grocery stores for the same name-brand products. It makes a big difference in our grocery bill at the end of the month. And yes, the clientele is often bizarre to say the least, but I consider people watching in Walmart a highly entertaining floor show while shopping. I cannot begin to tell you some of the people and outfits I have seen in there…sometimes my neck hurts from turning around so often to get another look at what just passed me in aisle.
Every buffet that serves food hot has some type of heating going on, steam or heat lamp or whatever. Regardless of the method, the maximum hold times on prepared food are the same max times everywhere, so all buffets throw away food.
That’s my favorite part of going to Wal-Mart! There was once a “Wal-Mart Bingo” thread here, based on people and things you see during a typical visit.
I boycott Chick-fil-a (ultra-fundies), Crown and Citgo (both make my engine knock), and Jiffy Lube (they tried to leave my Jeep unattended with the keys in the ignition).
ETA: I also boycott Kroger for their support of F.L.O.C.'s boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle Company.
Not so much an absolute boycott as a “not as long as there’s a viable, lawful alternative”-cott, against SONY, specially after the whole rootkit debacle from a few years back, but in spirit going back to the Sony Florendo case.
Fruitopia. They were the first ones who I saw take over a whole subway car with their ads, and it scarred me. Products have done it since then, but I was so offended by this first foray into it that I swore a mighty oath never to drink Fruitopia.
McDonald’s–horrible food, less than stellar treatment of employees and so fucking pervasive they’re probably trying to open one at McMurdo Station. Just no.
Carl’s Jr–because the last time I ate at one I got an incredible case of food poisoning. I don’t give people money to poison me.
Pet stores that sell puppies and kittens, especially Scamp’s.
Food from China–trying to avoid other items made there too. This is incredibly difficult to manage.
Chain bookstores–why the hell would I bother with Barnes & Noble when I have Powell’s Booksright here in town? By the way, for those of you who want to patronize an indie bookstore but have few available locally, may I draw your attention to the fact that Powell’s has a very strong internet storefront with a hellacious selection of both new, used and hard to find books? You’re welcome!
I refuse to drive down certain streets where the signage is calculated to cause a speed trap and the po-po’s take advantage of it rather than fix the signs.
Ford–for their long history of refusing to make low cost fixes to known issues in favor of hoping not TOO many people get killed and the settlements will be cheaper.
Any company that insists on putting “Christian Business” or fish symbols on their place of business or in their Yellow Page ads will not get my business. Let their god send them customers!
Verizon–for three years of customer service abuses, just fuck them in the neck.
Apple–overpriced, overhyped crap that emphasizes style over performance and encourages people to be witless sheep who know nothing about how their technology works. That and Jobs insisting that third party apps running on smartphones would crash the network. :rolleyes:
When the RIAA first filed suits on customers I vowed I would never again buy a new CD–and I haven’t. I want those fuckers to go down like a heroin whore on a hot shot.
My problem with those places goes beyond where they get the puppies, too. I don’t think that anyone who wants a dog and can pay for it should be able to get one. Large breed dogs can be very dangerous with the wrong owner. They’re not just dangerous to the owner and their family, but also to other people and animals living nearby. I think the sort of background check that a good shelter or rescue group would do before adopting a dog to anyone is necessary for public safety in the case of large dogs.
Even if pet stores that sell puppies got them only from good breeders, I still wouldn’t buy anything from them, because they are endangering the public by selling large and potentially dangerous dogs to anyone who can come up with the money.
I proudly boycott Walmart, Krogers, Nike, Exxon-Mobil, anything made in any non-democratic country (except when there are no alternatives), and any other product whose purchase would promote environmental destruction or human rights abuse.
Diamonds, although I don’t buy much jewelry anyway.
I try to avoid Chinese stuff, but
a) it’s harder and harder to do
b) sometimes it’s outright impossible - like Chinese clothes and weapons to tai chi chuan practice.
ExxonMobil for their environmental practices. I try to buy Citgo whenever I can.
Nestle (although if they don’t put their logo on the package somewhere prominent I sometimes miss it)
WalMart because of business practices, union busting, and the treatment of their workers.
And definitely pet stores that sell puppies/kittens. I think they’re fine for small animals, but since I’m not really interested in owning a bird or reptile I don’t know much about the conditions in some stores.
Oh, and veal. And octopus.
I try not to shop at stores or restaurants that make their employees do stuff I would not want to do if I worked there, especially if the reason they do this is to entertain the customers, and not because it makes some difference in the end product. For example, Coldstone’s- I wouldn’t like to have to sing for the customers who tip $1, so I generally don’t go there (if I do, I either don’t tip $1, or do it in some way the employees don’t notice so they don’t have to sing). I wouldn’t hire a maid service that made their employees wear impractical “French maid” style uniforms, or one that required that all maids get down on their hands and knees and use a scrub brush to clean floors, even if a mop would do as good a job.
Why octopus? Is it because they may be intelligent, something about how they’re caught or killed, or something else?
I don’t eat veal, because I keep kosher and have never found kosher veal that was labelled as free-range or naturally raised.
I boycott a shopping center built on the top of Pantops mountain in Eastern Charlottesville VA. What could have been left alone or at least a nice park with a scenic view of the city is now a parking lot and Giant grocery store, Applebees, gas station etc. On top of a mountain. This is a pic, the city of Charlottesville is in the background way below the line of sight: 404 (Page Not Found) Error - Ever feel like you're in the wrong place?
