# Which companies do you boycott and why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 8, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368 "2010-04-08T02:06:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/141 "2010-04-11T03:36:52Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Where did I say I have a hard on against Russia, or I hate them? I said nothing of the kind. > I will not buy a Toshiba product because they knowingly violated US law in order to supply Russia with prohibited technology. This was not some oops we made a boo-boo. they engaged in an organized plot to acquire these machines and sell them to Russia. IMHO that makes them assholes of the highest order. > At the time Congress was so pissed there was talk about banning Toshiba from selling any more products here. But as in most things political Toshiba threw a metric butt load of money to the lobbyists and the problem disappeared. > However since I did not get any of the lobbyists money, I feel free to decide that Toshiba is a bunch of slimy assholes and I do not need to support them. > YMMV It just seems to me like one would have to have such a Cold War mentality to hate a company and boycott them specifically for violating a law that many companies routinely do. You didn’t say, for example, that you boycott company X because they were caught dumping in violation of environmental regulations, or company Z because they hid their finances. You said that Toshiba sold military technology to Russia and that’s why you boycott them. To me, that’s as unforgivable as overcharging me for a monitor when I go to Best Buy: annoying but hardly of any matter to me personally. I’m just trying to understand why you take this specific affront so personally if it’s not some kind of Russian hate. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/142 "2010-04-11T04:34:39Z")
I boycott PC’s for their smug costumers that insist Mac is all about hype. I don’t like the PC fanboys or the Kool-Aid they drink. We constantly have posts about PC’s doing wonky things. We have three of them right now, not including the sticky describing how to avoid viruses, but when you try to claim that Mac’s work, it must be because we really don’t know about computers. Then they call us smug. Also, I boycott **Macy’s**. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/143 "2010-04-11T08:26:45Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > This is horseshit. Chick-fil-A’s service blows every other fast food joint out of the water, and it isn’t even close. > . It was crap. To hear some people tell it’s as if the food is an orgasm on a tray, and i was not impressed. ---
**Author:** ![nonacetone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonacetone/32/2819_2.png) [@nonacetone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonacetone)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/144 "2010-04-11T11:20:35Z")
Those of us at my house were very saddened to find that on the label of our favorite steak sauce, there is a Jesus fish, and a little blurb that says, ‘Christ is our (Jesus fish symbol) CEO’. Damn. That was some really good steak sauce, too. We stopped buying it. It was Country Bob’s. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/145 "2010-04-11T11:23:38Z")
> [@WarmNPrickly](#): > > I boycott PC’s for their smug costumers that insist Mac is all about hype. I don’t like the PC fanboys or the Kool-Aid they drink. We constantly have posts about PC’s doing wonky things. We have three of them right now, not including the sticky describing how to avoid viruses, but when you try to claim that Mac’s work, it must be because we really don’t know about computers. Then they call us smug. I suspect the overall cogency of your argument might be slightly undermined by the fact that the OP asks for ‘companies’ and ‘PC’s’ (sic.) are not a company. Some might be inclined to make an additional point about your use of the apostrophe, but I shall refrain from doing so. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/146 "2010-04-11T11:56:30Z")
Your right, I should have said that I boycott Microsoft based operating systems. ---
**Author:** ![raindog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/147 "2010-04-11T12:08:26Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > Many Redwings are still made in America which is more than can be said for other manufacturers. I always figured I was paying big bucks for Redwings because they are top quality boots. I’m confident mine are still made in America as I require a custom lift and it takes less then a week to get them to me. Ahhh, Thanks for bringing up **Redwings.** When I was a yungin’ in the trade I took some joy in making fun of the journeymen wearing Redwings. I would ask them, \*“How long do these boots last?” \*(2-3 years) _“How much did you pay?”_, I would ask. ($200) I would then tell them _“You’re an **idiot**. I pay $59 for these Sear Die Hards and they last 2-3 years”_ Until one day----to shut me up----- a journeyman gave me a new pair as a gift. And a 20 year love affair began. Until our divorce… 4 years ago I had the stitching come loose on a 5 month old pair of Redwings. I took them back to the store (a long time Dutch Baptist franchise) and was offered 50% off a new pair. I grumbled under my breath and bought them. ($200) _Six months after that_ the rubber sole split, side to side, on the ball of my foot, from the walking surface all the way up to my foot. I contacted Redwings by phone and email, explaining that I was a tradesman and had worn Redwings for 20 years exclusively and was exceptionally loyal. I explained that I had never had a bad experience, and now I had 2 pairs in a row that came up lame. They never responded. I no longer wear Redwings. ---
**Author:** ![what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a5b964/32.png) [@what\_do\_I\_type\_here](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/what_do_I_type_here)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/148 "2010-04-11T15:21:24Z")
I think a lot of people are boycotting companies for the wrong reason. You should only boycott a company if they do something harmful to you or others, not because they’re overpriced. Case in point: Apple. If you think their computers are too expensive, then just don’t buy them. Don’t overreact and boycott the entire damn organization. It’s not like they’re forcing you to buy their products. I mean damn. Even the militant atheists who boycott stores with fish logos have a better reason than that (as nutty as they are). ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/149 "2010-04-11T17:40:07Z")
I have never been inside a Walmart and have no intention of going. For reasons mentioned above. One store here in Quebec actually won union certification and they immediately closed it. Whole Foods when I am near one. Labatt beer for an utterly obnoxious ads a number of years ago depicting an immigrant woman who had a job cleaning toilets as an idiot with an accent. (Labatt Blue had been my favorite beer and I have not had one since). And I have not made a donation to the University of Pennsylvania since they passed over Vartan Gregorian for president and chose a clod. But now they have surpassed themselves as the most recent issue of the A&S newsletter had an unsigned piece that purportedly about cigarette statistics but was actually anti-health-care propaganda. (For the record, it compared US life expectancy with those of about 20 other developed country (divided by sex and smoking status) and the US came out in the middle. The statistical lie implicit in this was they started from age 50, an age when the majority is covered by medicare, instead of 15 or 20 when most smokers start. And even then it would ignore infants and children where the US does the worst. I will not buy a Dell since their customer service sucks. One of their reps hung up on me (politely, to be sure) when I used the word “damn”. But mainly, in repeated calls about the same problem, I was unable to talk to anyone who could understand my explanation of what was wrong (which was a defective keyboard handler in the BIOS) and I eventually returned it. And we are coming very close to boycotting Sears (poor customer service). ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/150 "2010-04-11T20:39:29Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I will not buy a Dell since their customer service sucks. One of their reps hung up on me (politely, to be sure) when I used the word “damn”. But mainly, in repeated calls about the same problem, I was unable to talk to anyone who could understand my explanation of what was wrong (which was a defective keyboard handler in the BIOS) and I eventually returned it. I don’t know if I truly boycott Dell; I just don’t intend to ever purchase another thing from them. I tried to buy a desktop computer a few months ago; it overheated and shut down after running for less than an hour. I was on the phone with tech support for more than an hour, during which time I repeated by story to at least five techs. I finally sent the machine back, which was another nightmare because I had made the mistake of opening a “Dell Preferred” financing account so I could get free shipping. They credited the account back one cent short. I was finally able to get this error corrected after several weeks, and quickly closed the account. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/151 "2010-04-11T21:30:01Z")
I’m basically too lazy and too absent-minded to _actively_ boycott businesses. I don’t go to Chik-Fil-A by myself, but I will go there if somebody I’m with really wants to. > [@toofs](#): > > Yeah, and Dr. Martens shoes sold in America are no longer made in England, also Vans shoes are no longer made in the USA. Doc Martens’ Vintage line is still produced in England. Why that should matter is beyond me. > [@Acid\_Lamp](#): > > Look, I don’t care if someone displays their religion in their establishment, but I do mind if it’s plastered all over their ads, signs, or work trucks. I don’t think that religion in general is a net force for the advancement of society, and won’t support or encourage it. I just find it unprofessional. Like with the doctor with the anti-Obama sign, I think prosetlyzing for pretty much any cause is a no-no. I believe a place of business should be a place of business. I suppose there are probably people out there who plaster Christian icons over their storefronts because they think it will get them into heaven, but I assume in the absence of evidence to the contrary that it’s because they want customers to know they’re Christians. I don’t want to know what sort of mythology you’re into; I just want a fucking sandwich (or my coat dry-cleaned, or whatever). That said, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually noticed stuff like that in businesses I would patronize anyway. Most of the time it seems to be trucking companies, and I have yet to run into a situation requiring me to retain a driver and tractor-trailer. 😃 > [@ianzin](#): > > British Airways. I have yet to find an organisation more determined to deliver a bad customer experience. Curious; I flew with British Airways (mostly as an unaccompanied minor) for years and years and they were invariably kind and attentive. Possibly because I was an adorable kid. Admittedly, I haven’t flown on BA at all in the last few years, but that’s mostly because my flying has been limited to domestic US flights lately. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2010, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368/152 "2010-04-11T22:25:30Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > While I agree 100% with your statement, I am betting that the poster who you addressed it to is not going to listen to any logic or reason on this particular subject—Risha seems pretty entrenched on the matter… Huh? I’m one of probably half a dozen people on this thread who said that they avoid businesses that use superfluous Christian iconry and the like, so I’m not sure why you’re picking me out here. And I would do the same thing to any business owner pushing any other religion. I just don’t think I’ve ever seen a non-Christian do it. And I’m not an atheist, much less a “militant” one, for what it’s worth. :dubious: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-companies-do-you-boycott-and-why/535368.md?page=7)