Boycott over political stance of company management?

[Q]

Oftentimes when a singer or actor weighs in on a political or social issue, there is negative fallout for that person's stature as well as pocketbook.  I think people simply don't care what these non-political people have to say about such issues, and whatever stance they take is guaranteed to alienate at least some supporters or fans.

Do these effects hold true for the corporate sector?  Teresa Heinz Kerry's husband probably cost Heinz sales of a few bottles of ketchup.  Home Depot executives here in Atlanta are always having Bush fundraisers (and disturbing the entire area in the process, but I digress), and Michael Dell of Dell Computer is a big GOP contributor as well.  Yet another facet of this issue is corporate executives running for office themselves.  For example, Domino's Pizza executive David Brandon is currently considering a run for Michigan's Senate seat as a Republican.

Would political behavior by a company or a person closely associated with a company influence your buying decisions?  Would it affect anyone's buying decisions?

[bullmoose88]

Frankly I could care less...

the guy who owns target is a democrat and a contributor...

I'll go there if they have a better deal than say...walmart.

People must be crazy nowadays

[The Dowager Mod]

I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart because of the owners.
(And the crappy merchandise)

[Dave from Michigan]

one of my boss's at work is boycotting france(won't buy anything french).  I'm thinking of bringing something like food thats imported from france and give some to him but not tell him it's french, but he would be really pissed.

[Jake]

Unless the company itself is partisan towards an issue, there is little reason to boycott it.

[Frodo]

It really doesn't matter to me what the political stance is of the owner of a business that I am buying from.  While I consider myself moderately partisan, I am not so insanely partisan that I would refuse to buy goods from a company that happened to contribute most to the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign and/or the Republican Party. 

[Cubby]

I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart because of the owners.
(And the crappy merchandise)

I do as well, although I'm against their anti-union policy, not their politics. (Watch, now someone will call us "elitists" lol)

I tried to buy another Gateway instead of a Dell (Dell is based in Williamson County, TX and is a big Bush contributer), but everyone said that would be a very bad choice so I relented.

I also don't buy gas at BP (formerly British Petroleum) partly because they're overpriced and I don't like the new name (Beyond Petroleum, gee how innovative) but mainly because they publicly supported drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

[Platypus]

I boycott companies when they actually do something bad; for example the whole Nestle thing with the fake milk etc.

[Brandon H]

I would consider a boycott over their stance, but it would go by who they make contributions to.

I found this today. http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45280
Top 10 most gay friendly firms. Coke and Pepsi are both on there.

Speaking of Home Depot (as well as Coke) and Atlanta:
http://boycottcoke.org/boycott/spofga/flagmoney2.htm

I also boycott any business that contributes to Planned Parenthood (left-wing) as well as the RIAA / MPAA (both wing companies making money off of mostly left-wing so called entertainers) and Wal-Mart (right-wing).

And speaking of Wal-Mart, our new Wal-Mart opened a month ago and I still haven't purchased anything from them yet.

I prefer AMD to Intel and Dell doesn't carry AMD's so I don't buy Dell (but my dad and Republican-hating Grandpa do).

Domino's often gives donations and discounts to Churches in our area so I support them.

While Heinz was tied to Kerry through Theresa Heinz, Heinz itself actually contributed more money to Republicans then Democrats. Anyone remember this one? http://www.wketchup.com/ (W is for Washington, not George W. Bush.)

I also Boycott Blockbuster because my girlfriend use to work there and they treated her and everyone else like slaves. So I hate Blockbuster as well.

(OK. I spent too much time on this post.)

[Ebowed]

Yes.  Although I don't really boycott anything at the moment, I may do so in the future.

[dazzleman]

Usually not, though I might in egregious cases.

Mostly though, I buy what I want, and shop where it's convenient.  I don't really know the political preferences of most companies. 

For example, I didn't know until reading this thread that Home Depot's executives are big Republicans, and I didn't know that about Dell either.  That wouldn't make me shop there or buy their products if I didn't want to, but if I had a choice I'd favor them over a supporter of the Democrats.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

There's only two real companies I boycott:

Wal-Mart - obvious reasons
Coca-Coal - support and fund illegal right wing paramilitary death squads in Colombia and have had union leaders murdered

[Max Power]

I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart because of the owners.
(And the crappy merchandise)

My opinion exactly.

I also refuse to eat at Pizza Hut, KFC, or Taco Bell to help eliminate their awful commercials.

And Brandon H, although Planned Parenthood is Pro-Choice, they are not necessarily left-wing; they do a lot charitable work for single mothers and fathers.

[7,052,770]

Unless the company is donating their profits to the "Make Harry's Life Miserable Charity" (which is run by some people from this board), then I don't really care and will go for the best deal.

[Colin]

I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart because of the owners.
(And the crappy merchandise)

I do as well, although I'm against their anti-union policy, not their politics. (Watch, now someone will call us "elitists" lol)

I tried to buy another Gateway instead of a Dell (Dell is based in Williamson County, TX and is a big Bush contributer), but everyone said that would be a very bad choice so I relented.

I also don't buy gas at BP (formerly British Petroleum) partly because they're overpriced and I don't like the new name (Beyond Petroleum, gee how innovative) but mainly because they publicly supported drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

BP's actual name is British Petroleum, Beyond Petroleum is just a marketing thing that is a take off on their initials. BP's gasoline is mostly produced from oil from rigs in the North Sea, as is the oil for Royal Dutch Shell Corporation. I'm sorry to say this but most, if not all, major oil companies support drilling in ANWR, Shell might not but that would probably be for lack of interest due to what I said earlier. So in other words your boycott of BP, for any other reason besides they're gas is expensive, is completely stupid and insane. I personally believe that anyone, anyone, who boycotts a company because of it's political stance is a complete moron and a worthless party hack. Just for the record their are some stores that I do not shop in, like Wal-Mart, but this is because of the overall sh**ttiness of their stores and not because of any other reasons.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I refuse to get gas from Shell anymore after seeing some movie in class that had really bad things about them. I think they might've done business in Burma or something and propped up the regime there. Can't remember, but I boycott them anyway.I don't go to big chain gas stations that uch anyway, I get most of my gas at Stadium Gas & Groceries, a small locally owned gas station here right next to my apartment which in addition to gas mostly deals in groceries (hence the name) and porn (lots of it), the Stadium is because it's located on Stadium Road, which is named after, suprise, the school's football stadium which is as well.

[Max Power]

I tried to buy another Gateway instead of a Dell (Dell is based in Williamson County, TX and is a big Bush contributer), but everyone said that would be a very bad choice so I relented.

DON'T BUY A GATEWAY! My family bought one in 2000 for our store and it is an awful waste of money. My new computer will be a Dell as well, isn't that swell?

[bullmoose88]

I tried to buy another Gateway instead of a Dell (Dell is based in Williamson County, TX and is a big Bush contributer), but everyone said that would be a very bad choice so I relented.

DON'T BUY A GATEWAY! My family bought one in 2000 for our store and it is an awful waste of money. My new computer will be a Dell as well, isn't that swell?

You.


Stop Rhyming.


That is all.

[Cubby]

I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart because of the owners.
(And the crappy merchandise)

I do as well, although I'm against their anti-union policy, not their politics. (Watch, now someone will call us "elitists" lol)

I tried to buy another Gateway instead of a Dell (Dell is based in Williamson County, TX and is a big Bush contributer), but everyone said that would be a very bad choice so I relented.

I also don't buy gas at BP (formerly British Petroleum) partly because they're overpriced and I don't like the new name (Beyond Petroleum, gee how innovative) but mainly because they publicly supported drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

BP's actual name is British Petroleum, Beyond Petroleum is just a marketing thing that is a take off on their initials. BP's gasoline is mostly produced from oil from rigs in the North Sea, as is the oil for Royal Dutch Shell Corporation. I'm sorry to say this but most, if not all, major oil companies support drilling in ANWR, Shell might not but that would probably be for lack of interest due to what I said earlier. So in other words your boycott of BP, for any other reason besides they're gas is expensive, is completely stupid and insane. I personally believe that anyone, anyone, who boycotts a company because of it's political stance is a complete moron and a worthless party hack. Just for the record their are some stores that I do not shop in, like Wal-Mart, but this is because of the overall sh**ttiness of their stores and not because of any other reasons.

Well thanks for clearing the record there. If they weren't the most expensive gas station in town I'd probably go there. I'm very passionate about ANWR, so that'll always be an issue for me. It may seem stupid to boycott something but it also gives me a feeling of control and a feeling that I might be doing some good by denying them money, however miniscule it may be.