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Boycotting: Do you avoid spending money for some products/services?

On a recent thread, @resserts made an excellent point. We can separate the art from the artist. For some of us, it can be okay to like Orson Scott Card's writing, but dislike the man and what he believes. I loved Michael Jackson's music, even though he may have crossed some lines with his young house guests. But I do refuse to spend money at Chick-Fil-A or Jimmy Johns. I avoid going into a Walmart.
Are there any companies/retailers/restaurants/artists you boycott or avoid? Where do you draw the line when deciding whether or not to do so?

MrLizard 8 Jan 7
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23 comments

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8

Let me give you an instance of my boycotting here in England. Don't know if you've heard of Marks & Spencer, a quite high class chain of stores started by Jewish immigrants. Anyway, there was an instance some time ago when an old lady approached the cash desk with a bottle of champagne and a pack of sausage rolls, and the muslim cashier refused to serve her, saying it was against her religion. Bad enough you may say, but the management of Marks & Spencer supported her and said she had done the right thing. I was so furious I actually managed to make the M&S FB page so angry that they managed to get me SO banned that I still can't post comments on any FB pages, not only theirs. I was SO angry - especially as I don't suppose the cashier returns the portion of her salary generated by sales of alcohol & pork. Hypocrisy at its worst.

Have you ever seen a local Muslim shop where the lady behind the counter is in a full burka? I doubt it because it would affect their business.

@273kelvin Their ladies are usually in the back, doing the rough work.

6

Nestle. I have not bought Nescafe for decades. I stopped buying it after the companies aggressive marketing of formula milk in Africa. Now it a has similar corporate mindset to water and what it pays for chocolate/coffee beans.

5

Well I'll never buy ANYTHING from Hobby Lobby for one. I've also boycotted Wal-Mart, any consumer product made by General Electric (they seem to break right away), Time Warner Cable, Spectrum Cable, and a few others...

5

I live in a small town and we drive 50 miles one way to do major shopping. I try to buy local when I can. The local feed store put a huge sign on the side of their store condemning wolves. Even though they had already and always have a Biblical verse on their marquee I did some shopping there but the wolves thing was it and I will never visit them again.

gearl Level 8 Jan 7, 2018

I’d lived rural, still do.. I’ve stopped purchasing all kinds of products and services due to a ..regressive sign or political candidate displayed like that. It’s a tuff call whether or not to inform them of your decision, though I have..

5

I'd avoid walmart if I could. Unfortunately, with my budget such as it is, it's one of the few places I can afford to get most of what I need and not wind up dead broke.
I don't patronize Hobby Lobby, Chic-Fil-A, Starbucks (mostly because their coffee sucks and is ridiculously overpriced), most Koch Industries products, and most Nestle products.

living in rural America it is pretty hard to avoid walmart. I would if I didnt have to drive 150 mile round trip for an alternative

@btroje Exactly!

@MrLizard I can't even stomach the aroma of their coffee. Their beans always smell burnt to me. Makes for some funky-ass bitter coffee.

5

Yes, definitely - I refuse to buy products made by companies that have been found to donate to anti-abortion organisations, have a questionable record on animal rights and those who have used sexist, racist, homophobic or transphobic material in advertising - unless they did so in the past and have since apologised and cleaned up their act.

I also try to buy products made by companies with a social conscience and those that back women's sports, even if they cost a little more.

Jnei Level 8 Jan 7, 2018
4

Friends don't let friends go to Walmart or McDonald's.

@MrLizard

4

I have been boycotting all my life, here our big 4 banks, because they finance so much of which I disapprove ( I worked for one for many many years), I also avoid Nestle, Nike and many more.

re nike: Partly due to making so much money in the 70s for overpriced products made cheaply in places such as china, I don't like sport in general so tend not to but even non sporting products from these companies, I don't like the tick, and 99% of people who buy them, don't even know that Nike was the goddess of victory. Something about Nike has always struck a chord in me as wrong.

4

walmart coz they won't unionize or give full time work and tim hortons for allowing owners to remove benefit packages without compensation

3

Yeah... is my money and choice of how to use it.

3

I sure as heck wouldn't buy anything with "trump" on it. We don't have Chick-Fil-A or Jimmy Johns in NH but I don't buy My Pillow and anything promoted by anyone religious.

2

My spending is very conscious of the ethical values of the company.

Hating on LGBTQ is a big trigger for me. So is take advantage of workers.

Hobby Lobby, Chick-Fil-A, Papa Johns, and many more along those lines. Wal-mart too.

2

Try to shop at the employee owned stores. Ones where the employees have benefits. Do like to shop local. Boycott companies where employees qualify for federal assistance. Looking at companies who don't or only minimally pay taxes. Try to be responsible.

2

I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart if at all possible. I won't patronize hobby lobby nor would I eat at chick-fil-a. There is a local grocer I won't shop at because of how the very Christian owners treated my muslim sister in law and it's opposition to a city ordinance that made it illegal to fire people for being gay.

Not where I live. The city never got to drafting the law because of all the hullabaloo.

2

I refuse to go to chic-fil-a, and I won't donate to salvation army not just for their religious affiliation but because of their treatment towards lgbt people

2

I avoid the same ones you do. Home Depot is another. I've always liked the art of Gauguin but I think he was a pervert but I probably wouldn't want to own one of his paintings even if I couldI obviously can separate artist and their art, but not corporations and their beliefs. I don't want to financially support evil.

2

As the almighty dollar is the god of many refusing to give them my money is an excellent way of protesting. Many avocado farms in Mexico have been taken over by the drug cartels, I refuse to buy avocados from Mexico - I LOVE avocados and miss them in my diet. trumps policies/ideals/toxic words have furthered the trade embalance. I try really hard to not buy anything from China. Just sayin'

Oh dear. I so love avocados. sigh

2

There was a day I was put in charge of refining a boycott list for an organization I belonged to … then keeping a Red vs Blue copy taped next to our phone. In the short term, they can apply some pressure, but it seems to fade fast ..when folks are no longer watching.

A recent transplant from the west to east coast (of us), it’s depressing and disgusting how Walmarts have apparently killed their competition. And as others have mentioned, I also find myself ‘in there’ for something I can’t find elsewhere... I still feel boycotts are worthwhile, if only to give us the feeling we’re doin something 😉

Varn Level 8 Jan 7, 2018

@MrLizard ...I’ve watched beer ‘Funneled’ ..seems the streaming comes later 😀

1

Try this app. I’ve been using it for years. Put your money where your heart is.

[buycott.com]

1

I boycott the ones you listed plus Hobby Lobby and Sam's Club.
I live in a smaller city and have some independent choices left. I choose to keep my money as local as possible and when I can't I will go on Ebay. There are plenty of Mom and Pops doing business on there, if I can't keep it local I try to keep it as small (business) as possible.

1

I live in a city where we all do.

Coming from and living in Liverpool, tears rolled down my eyes as I listened this at a festival. It being only a few weeks after the Hillsborough verdict. For those unacquainted with the story, 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death at a soccer match. Tabloid newspapers (most noticeably the Sun) tried to vilify the supporters themselves, blaming them for the tragedy and printed lies including robbing and urinating on the dead. This led to a campaign not only for justice but also against the Sun newspaper itself. To this day it is almost impossible to buy the most popular UK newspaper (Murdoch owned) in my city. A fact of which I feel rightly proud as it stands a shining example of how people can effect change if we stand together.

1

There are lots and the list is growing. Walmart definitely and, don't forget Hobby-Lobby (which I wouldn't go to anyway). I haven't gone to a fast food place in decades (we don't have any on the islands anyway). I generally disdain shopping but try to be aware of any connections between the store and issues I don't support. One tough one is Amazon. They are changing the whole demographics of the world and do a lot of harm. But they do support some things like the secular movement. I limit my few purchase from them as much as I can and will spend a few dollars more to support some local store.

One big problem I have with shopping is the use of the U.S. piece of colored cloth as an enticement. Some places have a giant flag which, the retailer tries to use patriotism as an enticement - a very shallow one at that (I question how much of their goods are made in the U.S.).

@GeekLeen Have you seen their advertisements? They are full of Christian symbolism and products. Their profits go toward pushing their beliefs on others. It is pure evil. What happened to Michaels?

0

I don't shop at Walmart or Hobby Lobby, eat at Chick-Fil-A or drink Coke. Probably others I should avoid, but it's tough to keep up. Sometimes you're stuck, tho.

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