Writer's Block: Under Protest
Aug. 31st, 2009 08:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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My babysitter (my parents were out of the country for a week) at the time had my siblings and I boycott the 2004 Superbowl because CBS refused to air during the game an ad promoting awareness of a social cause she supported. I don't remember the ad or what it supported, but I did miss that whole wardrobe malfunction thing-- so, win one for me.
That was just by association, however; I've never really done a support-the-cause boycott, like "If you believe in X, you should stop buying Y's products!" There are some things I feel I probably should boycott, but I'm just not in a consistent enough life position to be too picky right now. (Or I'm just lazy?). For instance, I don't agree with Walmart's business practices, but in Elkhart it was close to my house and cheap and so I would go there when Target or Meijer was too much trouble to get to. Some things I do just for the mundane practicality. I mean, hell, the very act of killing living things makes me sad-- let alone some of the housing and killing practices in the meat industry-- but meat is nutritious (and delicious) and if I don't eat me some beef or fish on a regular basis, the iron in my blood drops and I get anemia symptoms. And when I was in college I just couldn't shell out twice as much for the farm-bred organic chicken, you know?
That said, there are some companies I refuse to do business with-- but for personal reasons, such as a bad experience with them. My #1 blacklist organization is Bank of America, which scammed me and probably ruined my credit score by incurring an unmentioned fee (and interest) on a credit card I never received in the mail, never used, and never received a bill for. I had the account, but without mention of the possibility of this fee when I signed up for the card and no notification of it once it was incurred (until Debt Collection starting calling me!), how the hell was I supposed to pay it off? I've heard that stuff like this has happened to other Bank of America customers, too--- most of them my age. The bank apparently makes quite a few bucks ripping off college students who don't have the resources or legal savvy to fight them. Very few lawyers find it worth it to go to court over something like $500, but to a student with loans and no full-time income that's a lot of money-- and Bank of America, with its fat ass sitting pretty as the monopolizing bank of many college campuses, can apparently scam enough people to make it worth it to them.
I also generally avoid products whose ads make me cry. This is my silliest boycott, but, come on: Why would I buy a product whose selling point is how miserable it makes the competition? Even if the competition is a fictional Italian chef or an iron . . . I just think that's a terrible way to sell a product, and in solidarity for crying chefs and irons everywhere, I will not buy (so long as I can help it):
*Bertolli frozen meals. (Crying Italian chef). Also, I don't really like these that much anyway, lol.
*Whisk fabric softener. (Lonely crying iron).
*IKEA actually went so far as to not only make a sad ad, but actually make fun of me for feeling sad about it. I've never purchased anything from IKEA, but I'm torn because their other ads are so clever (and in a non-mean way) and someday I may want to furnish an apartment. Verdict is still out.
My babysitter (my parents were out of the country for a week) at the time had my siblings and I boycott the 2004 Superbowl because CBS refused to air during the game an ad promoting awareness of a social cause she supported. I don't remember the ad or what it supported, but I did miss that whole wardrobe malfunction thing-- so, win one for me.
That was just by association, however; I've never really done a support-the-cause boycott, like "If you believe in X, you should stop buying Y's products!" There are some things I feel I probably should boycott, but I'm just not in a consistent enough life position to be too picky right now. (Or I'm just lazy?). For instance, I don't agree with Walmart's business practices, but in Elkhart it was close to my house and cheap and so I would go there when Target or Meijer was too much trouble to get to. Some things I do just for the mundane practicality. I mean, hell, the very act of killing living things makes me sad-- let alone some of the housing and killing practices in the meat industry-- but meat is nutritious (and delicious) and if I don't eat me some beef or fish on a regular basis, the iron in my blood drops and I get anemia symptoms. And when I was in college I just couldn't shell out twice as much for the farm-bred organic chicken, you know?
That said, there are some companies I refuse to do business with-- but for personal reasons, such as a bad experience with them. My #1 blacklist organization is Bank of America, which scammed me and probably ruined my credit score by incurring an unmentioned fee (and interest) on a credit card I never received in the mail, never used, and never received a bill for. I had the account, but without mention of the possibility of this fee when I signed up for the card and no notification of it once it was incurred (until Debt Collection starting calling me!), how the hell was I supposed to pay it off? I've heard that stuff like this has happened to other Bank of America customers, too--- most of them my age. The bank apparently makes quite a few bucks ripping off college students who don't have the resources or legal savvy to fight them. Very few lawyers find it worth it to go to court over something like $500, but to a student with loans and no full-time income that's a lot of money-- and Bank of America, with its fat ass sitting pretty as the monopolizing bank of many college campuses, can apparently scam enough people to make it worth it to them.
I also generally avoid products whose ads make me cry. This is my silliest boycott, but, come on: Why would I buy a product whose selling point is how miserable it makes the competition? Even if the competition is a fictional Italian chef or an iron . . . I just think that's a terrible way to sell a product, and in solidarity for crying chefs and irons everywhere, I will not buy (so long as I can help it):
*Bertolli frozen meals. (Crying Italian chef). Also, I don't really like these that much anyway, lol.
*Whisk fabric softener. (Lonely crying iron).
*IKEA actually went so far as to not only make a sad ad, but actually make fun of me for feeling sad about it. I've never purchased anything from IKEA, but I'm torn because their other ads are so clever (and in a non-mean way) and someday I may want to furnish an apartment. Verdict is still out.
