I’ve noticed a growing trend that I want to address today, because it’s about as annoying as that friend you’ve got on Facebook who posts “I’m leaving Facebook!” for the seventh time. Does this have anything to do with couponing? Well, no, not exactly, but it is something that impacts me from time to time as a coupon blogger.
So what is this trend I’m referring to? It’s the person who cries “I’m never shopping there/buying from them again!” every time a company screws up….
A company CEO makes a couple admittedly stupid statements during an interview…. BOYCOTT.
A company’s social media manager accidentally tweets from the company’s account something about a relative of the President…. BOYCOTT.
A company tried to do a giveaway on Facebook, but it failed…. BOYCOTT.
One person at the company did something stupid when they were in high school…. BOYCOTT.
Etc. etc. etc.
Why are you even bringing this up, Angela? Well, here’s the thing. There have been times I’ve posted a deal I found at a store, or a freebie a company was offering. And then a reader will leave a comment about why they’ll never shop there. Alright, OK, just know not everyone shares your belief and be careful to not make others feel badly for not joining you in your mission to boycott the company. You may choose to boycott Papa John’s because you think they don’t care about their employees, but another reader might want to buy a pizza now even more to keep those employees in business in the first place.
Your upset may be justified, but your comment and irritation, misplaced. For instance, I’ve seen readers direct their boycott to bloggers before, because they had the audacity to even share a deal the company is offering. This is often an unfortunate turn of events! Remember that it can be very difficult as a blogger to stay on top of the news hitting every company out there (although many of us do make our best effort to do this!). Even if the blogger is aware of the news, he/she might have wanted to share the offer anyways for those interested.
Here’s what I think. This world is messy. No company is without faults and there are ethical dilemmas everywhere you look. And there are often two sides for every story. You might have recently heard how the demand for quinoa has caused the price to surge, making it no longer affordable for the people in the countries who grow it. BOYCOTT, right? Well, hold the phone. The demand for quinoa also means new opportunities for farmers in South American countries. Don’t even get me started about how social media and crowd mentalities can compound on all this, either. What we have in this country is an epidemic of Too Easily Offended-ness. Can we take a moment to pause before we react? Or has that era ended?
Even so, are there times to boycott companies? Yes, I do believe there are – make no mistake about it! It’s just like the boy who cried wolf – play that card too many times and no one gives a rip. I can think of one company in particular I researched and felt I no longer wanted to shop at or post about here. I’ve never written a post about it (nor will I do so), and I am careful to respect the choice of others who wish to shop there. It’s their prerogative to do without feeling less than for making a different choice than me. However, if a company has an isolated lapse of judgment or fails in some way, I’m often more inclined to wait and see how they will handle themselves afterwards. Instead of boycotting, I think it might be more helpful to speak your mind and then see how the company chooses to respond. Many times, they do.
Do you think I’m off my rocker on this one, or have you noticed more people railing against companies these days? Can you think of specific examples where boycotts seemed like a good idea, or overreacting? Sound off.
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{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
I think people are not happy unless they have something to bitch about !
True that.
I could also have written a similar post about how people that feel they have the “gift” of playing devil’s advocate are really just pessimists.
I think you make a lot of sense here! I wonder if we really look hard at our lives, we could find hundreds of reasons to boycott things and people and goods, etc… I wonder when we will decide to look at the bigger picture and have the guts to boycott our government for all the stuff it keeps telling us we have to burden for their mistakes?
That is just one of my thoughts.
I don’t think you’re off your rocker, but I do think those that scream ‘boycott’ every time something happens are. I bet that in most cases these people who ‘boycotted’ a place gave up and resumed consuming fairly quickly.
Boycotting is something that people do when a company has really, really messed up. A coupon didn’t work? Pick your battles! Now, if they purposely abused workers and put small businesses out of business….
Thanks for articulating this so well.
I hope it’s clear that I’m not saying NEVER boycott – I am saying, reserve that card for when it really matters. By overusing “boycott” it really loses its effectiveness, doesn’t it?
Right on the dot!! I read an article supporting meat eaters and then another article about being vegan. Each had their points about what’s better and how we are destroying the earth. Which do you believe? The one you want to follow, right?
It was a good reminder that there are always TWO sides to a story and believing what you read on the Internet is not always smart. Am I perfect? No! Do I expect every company to be perfect? No! I may not have read the other side to the story so I’m not going to pass judgement.
Unfortunately, people take “freedom of speech” too far on the Internet.
I like your “too easily offended-ness!” That is so true!! Come on, freshman or fisherman is no longer allowed??? Pretty soon we will no longer be called “woman” because someone realized that there is man in it too! I wonder what they will rename us?
Oh don’t even get me started on that “freshman” or “fisherman.” Surely we have better things to spend our tax dollars on!
I do think this is one of the negatives of social media – it seems that it’s easier than ever to not only form those knee-jerk opinions, but to express them and cause others to do the same.
Regarding your example of meat eating vs veganism >>> “Which do you believe? The one you want to follow, right?” is right on the money.
I think we can all be wise consumers and choose where we do or do not want to do business. There are websites available to review companies if people so wish, and perhaps that is where the negative (or positive) comments should go. I do appreciate hearing about people’s honest opinions on companies, but there are ways you can voice your opinion politely and intelligently. Blogging is a form of conveying a message, and in this case I think you have said, “Please don’t shoot the messenger!”
Well put Denise! I welcome open dialogue and conversation here, but I do get a bit upset when someone takes a down putting tone. I won’t censor or delete the comment (unless it’s personally attacking), but it makes me a bit sad nonetheless.
I am pleased to say it doesn’t happen too often, though it’s something I’m observing across my niche in growing numbers.
I lost a “friend” over thanksgiving due to something similar They are alway voicing their opinion loudly on everything and I dared to disagree and lots of friends agreed with me and she became upset and decided we weren’t “friends”. I say to each their own we are adults we are allowed to make our own decisions
That just makes me sad, Janice.
I know it can be tough when we feel soooo strongly on one side of the equation (*cough* elections *cough*), but it’s important that we don’t lose mutual respect for one another in the process. I hope at some point you guys can dialogue about what happened at Thanksgiving. (Seems an ironic holiday to have that happen.)
Not off your rocker at all. Good article. People sure are unforgiving, attacking, and self-important these days. I can’t think of any companies who I have actually boycotted. Nope. Not even the dreaded WM. I think that’s the only one i have sworn to boycott before, and I’ve ended up back there a time or two.
I agree that we as a culture are way to fast to “boycott” and that doing so just makes the companies laugh because they know we will be back in a few days. There is only one store that I refuse to shop. If the boycott is something you truly believe in rather than joining the facebook/twitter bandwagon it is a lot easier to avoid shopping there.
” I think it might be more helpful to speak your mind and then see how the company chooses to respond. Many times, they do.” I think that the act of boycotting — not the complaining, outraged, attacking others version, but the kind where you don’t give them any more money — is a pretty loud and clear message to a company if it affects their bottom line (profit). It is a form of speaking your mind, but with action which might make a company take notice. Yes, there are people who jump on the chance to be outraged rather quickly, but I like to think that if you truly don’t want to support a company, your action$ speak louder than words.
Valid point. Thanks for chiming in.
On the dot! This is exactly how I feel. Even the one place that I hate shopping and usually refuse to shop there, I will on occasion go just for the one item they have that is so much cheaper than anywhere else if I can’t get it elsewhere with a coupon. So even the place that I “boycott” I don’t really boycott. I’m a bad boycotter!
Great post! I have to tie my hands behind my back when a company makes a misstep in promotion, just so I won’t go check out their Facebook wall and see all the boycotters and angry birds pecking around. Most of what I have seen in the last few years is people behind their computer saying things they would never say face to face. People get all bent out of shape and before taking a deep breath, they have typed out a gnarly response. I agree that most of these companies probably don’t take any of the social media stuff to heart, as it’s just words from people who most likely won’t do anything about it.
I like your point about bloggers. We have seriously uprooted our diet and eating habits (all whole foods, Paleo-type eating), but I still post some weekly coupon match ups. I do my best to highlight the foods we eat, but am not going to leave out the boxed or processed stuff just because we “don’t believe in it”. I remind myself every week that every person and every family is on their own journey and it’s not up to me to censor. There are some individual things I skip posting, but it’s not my job to preach to the world. It’s only my job to live my life and be the best example I can be. Kind of off topic, I know. Your comments just made me think.
I agree with you, but I have stated to friends that Walmart isn’t my favorite store and they opened one really close to me (in a small area). Will I tell people to boycott – no, but I have been shopping mostly at the grocery store chain that is owned by a family in Nevada to try to help offset any business they are losing to Walmart. I even went into Walmart the other day and bought something from their craft/fabric area (one department this town could use).
I said this before and I will say it again. Please everyone get pissed off and boycott every company around. Makes more for me… I know humans run companies and mistakes will be made. Besides, what they don’t realize is when they boycott, all they do is give free advertisement to that company.
Good point on the free advertising! What’s that says – any press is good press?
I just got a personal email I felt was worth sharing. (I asked permission if I could do so and got a yes.)
“Thank you for the “I’m boycotting boycotters” post. My husband, our 4-year old, and I own 2 Papa John’s restaurants and have poured not only our sweat, blood, and tears into it (literally, at times!) but also our life savings. Papa John’s comments were taken out of context to begin with and the company tried to set the record straight. We received only a couple “I’m boycotting Papa John’s” emails but they still stung for a couple of reasons. First, we were losing customers due to a comment that our CEO made. How would they like to be accused of something that THEIR boss said? Second, we provide healthcare for OUR employees. (Insert sigh here.)
So we really do appreciate your post….not to mention all the great deals you bring to our attention. Thank you so much!!”
Well said. For crine -out -loud, get over it and move on. life is for living, and learning from mistakes, if we turn it into anger and walk away, who wins? Who learns?
I think this is a great topic for the dinner table for family’s with older kids. Thanks for your input, it was well thought out.
God Bless, Anne
I’m of two minds with this. Yes, I think that people overuse the term and practice of boycotting.
However, as a blogger, I don’t want to post deals from a company that our readers have repeatedly complained about (usually in the comments, sometimes via email). This is different from the examples you’ve listed above. These are readers that haven’t received their order in the promised amount of time, been treated badly when they’ve called customer service, etc.
If a company continues to do those things, then we often decide to stop promoting them (we don’t usually write a post about it) and we work with our readers to help resolve these issues.
I realize this is probably different from what you’re talking about in the post, but I just wanted to offer another perspective.
Quite true, Laura, and I do see that situation as quite different. Because I don’t share more than about 4-8 posts per day here, I do strive to make sure those deals are quality. If I get repeated complaints (or even just a few, significant ones), I will often stop posting about a company. I can think of a couple companies where my own personal dealings were so poor I stopped posting/promoting as well. Like you guys, I often don’t make a big post about them – I just stop altogether. How I see it – I’d rather focus on sharing the companies/businesses care about – I see it more that way that riling up folks to “boycott” a company.
Thanks for adding another piece to the convo, Laura!
I definitely believe in voting with my dollars and I do so when I reasonably can. The problem is, like you said, the issues are really complicated. Quinoa is a great example and those articles were interesting. It’s hard to be sure which side to “vote” for because boycott campaigns usually present a one-sided and overly simplified picture of the situation.
I am pretty sure that reducing unnecessary consumption overall is a good goal and would have a positive impact on humans everywhere as well as the environment. Buying crap I don’t need is not helpful, whether I buy it at Walmart or somewhere else.
I do think it’s important to decide where to “vote” with your money. I like to think of it as a positive thing – I choose to support X company.
Here’s an emerging example that further illustrates the kind of nonsense I’m referring to – some people are outraged at Capri Sun right now because someone found a moldy juice pack. The company admits that this can sometimes happen because they don’t use preservatives. Doesn’t matter – some people have already chosen to boycott, but if they’d stop and think about it, does it make any sense? What exactly are they boycotting? Will they stop when Capri Sun adds preservatives? Check out their Facebook page and you’ll see the exact sort of misbehavior I wrote about in this post yesterday.
BTW this: “I am pretty sure that reducing unnecessary consumption overall is a good goal and would have a positive impact on humans everywhere as well as the environment.” YES, YES, and YES! While I’m a big fan of shopping in bulk food bins for price savings, this would be another added benefit of that, wouldn’t it? Also, growing your own and canning/preserving (other things I’m a fan of).
Thanks, Anna, for your comments and insight!
Wow, that FB page is pretty ridiculous. So people are boycotting because they want MORE preservatives in their food? Whatever floats your boat I guess…
Yes! I so agree about the win-win-win nature of bulk foods and canning/preserving. I love it when I find strategies that are good for my body, good for my pocketbook, and good for the world. Triple win. Another example (that personally I’m terrible at doing) would be walking or biking instead of driving.
This is the reason I very rarely type on facebook or any other social media because everytime I do people think it’s debate class!!!
I think if you feel like you’ve been wronged but are largely without recourse or options against a big company, saying that you are going to boycott them makes you feel like at least you are doing something, and I do think that has some value in terms of owning your power as a person, and not supporting something that you have “ethical beef” with.
I definitely appreciate people sharing when they have had a bad experience with a company; I think it gives a small bit of power back to consumers who have little of it next to a big corporation, and its helpful to others who are choosing between vendors or products. But its just bad manners to be a bully to anyone not on board with your personal mission. And in the scheme of things, this all just becomes background noise.
I agree with you that companies should be given an opportunity to correct their wrongs, particularly something that has been done on the part of a rogue or inexperienced employee. It’s interesting that you bring up the example of Papa John’s; I just saw yesterday one of my LinkedIn marketing groups was discussing the wisdom of their PR/marketing path in the aftermath of the election: apparently their new strategy is to go after bloggers for libel and demand the bloggers retract statements made about them (statements, which btw, based on what I’ve read were actually true to begin with)…..very likely making things much worse for themselves. At the end of the day, they don’t have the best pizza so my point was that they should probably leave their political dealings as they are and focus on making good pizza because that will drive their success more than this PR/marketing drama. Some agree with their politics and some don’t, but it’s hard to argue with the best pizza in town.
I am passionate about NOT spending $$ at a place of business or a particular branch/office, for a variety of reasons. There is one main business out there that I stopped shopping at and have been adamant about NOT shopping at any of their stores. I have replaced them faithfully with another like store and have never looked back. They are not making changes and neither am I. There are those I might stop for a time and re-start, sometimes convenience and saving money wins out. I am more likely to stop shopping at a particular store because of their prejudice behavior, poor customer service, etc. This is usually over a time period where I can see that it is an infectious problem and not limited to a particular employee. We pay our mortgage to a particular bank and the newest branch is close to my home, I despise going there, they are professionally rude (especially the new manager), well I wont list it all, trust me they are “smelling themselves”. Well, one day I opted to go one more time, needed to save time. And lo’ and behold there were two new tellers and they were exceptional. I thanked Jesus then and there…! It felt like the other branch which is DYNAMIC. I wouldn’t change my mortgage company based on the “bad” employees but I will drive 7 more minutes to get the due service I am supposed too! So… boycott, yes, I can get with that sometimes. Mostly I am about respect, I respect you and I EXPECT the same , especially when I am choosing to spend my money at your place of business.
I have a similar experience with a certain drugstore that I won’t name here.
I would not use the word “boycott” by any stretch of the imagination, but I will say, I often find it’s worth it to drive across town to their other store where stock is generally better and employees, friendlier.
I do expect respect and to have good service, but again, this post was specifically about people who get in a wad about any little thing. I’m not sure if you caught my Capri Sun comment in response to Anna, but that is a very good example of the nonsense I’m referring to.
Thanks for dropping by, Ginean!