Dyager - how do you boycott Exxon/Mobil? Do you also boycott the companies they supply to? Kudos for sticking to your principles for 20 years btw

Vdip because their save and ready buttons are really far apart and because their forum doesn't have a heart beat.

I boycott Sonic because of those two jerks on their commercials. I hate those commercials, and there was a period during football season when I heard their stupid voices something like eighty times a day. It hasn't worked for these eight years, though.

@Maniac - My rage doesnt go so far as to research all associated companies. I simply drive to the gas station that isnt associated to them. I am lazy in my principles.
:)

I boycott Thucy. I was strolling through NOLA looking for a little action recently and he was hiking up his skirt and winking at me...I passed him right by.

I boycott Tyson products, but it's increasingly difficult as they get involved in more markets. They treat their farmers like shit and they may or may not knowingly hire illegal immigrants in their southern plants (still in question, but it's not like a government investigation is going to turn anything up since they probably sell off the illegal immigrants to the feds once they are done using them for work). No, they don't do a ton, but it makes you feel better about yourself, and if you get involved in a big boycott, it makes a difference.

In my opinion he was over-rated as a cricketer. He had a good average and was a skilled batsman, but he wasn't a team player, and it's a team game. He's sometimes entertaining as a pundit on Test Match Special though.

Boycotts rarely have any effect as the people boycotting the product or company are usually not the typical consumers for said product or company. Even if you get a large percentage of the regular consumers to boycott, it may or may not have an effect as there may be another group that agrees with the issue and opts to support said product or company.

For the same reason, embargos only work if *everyone* gets on board. The US embargo of Cuba is a prime example. It only hurts the people of Cuba a bit, not Castro, and never will because only the US is doing it.

I boycott oil companies because of climate change. One hopes that if enough people do it will work

Ogion, how can you possibly boycott the oil companies? Do you have any understanding over how many of the things you use use their oil? Do you assume that by owning a hybrid or something you are petroleum-free?

Do you own anything plastic? Do you own anything manufactured by a corporation? Do you own a bicycle? Grease on chains, rubber in tires, plastic handlebar grips, reflectors, the assembly process in the factory... All these things consume oil.

Things I avoid pointedly are soda, fast food, meat, and gas. They're not inviolate though, because nothing really should be. It certainly doesn't hurt that the industries that make those things are led by thugs.

But I should say I do not boycott those things because I think I will economically hurt them, but rather because producing and consuming these things is too costly.

BE RICH

I boycott things all the time.

No, it doesn't help.

I've boycotted FedEx for over a decade, and tell anyone in danger of using them to keep well clear. It makes me feel warm inside:)

Squire Maniac,

Congratulations on your interest in boycotting.

Since you asked, yes I am one of those rather horrible people who is currently boycotting something like 80 products, companies and services. Does this make a difference? I'd like to speculate that it does, although I have nothing conclusive on that point to offer.

I am rather a committed boycotter, however. I have been known to walk as far as five miles out of my way to avoid using the services of a company that you find disreputable.

My story is somewhat of a happy one. When Microsoft, a rather disreputable company under any circumstances, was menacing the public through their Trustworthy Computing initiative (*shudders*), I made the somewhat difficult decision to begin boycotting Microsoft. One needs to appreciate that back in the day Windows enjoyed a considerably more dominant market position than it does today.

The alternative was linux. Since linux was then in it's infancy, I needed to learn system administration simply to install the darn stuff on my computer. Once I had learned system administration, this lead indirectly to my current job and directly into a comfortable career.

Coincidence? It has been rather a happy journey. Invictus, right? I would speculate that occasional participation in boycotts would help to cultivate self-discipline on your part, a quality which is likely to contribute to your overall happiness.

Hope this helps! Good luck on your journey!

@bosox

You are right in part. Plastics are still part of my world in some measure. Otherwise it's a matter of renewable power, electric vehicles, natural fibers and the like.

Electric vehicles have a huge amount of plastic and are still lubricated. The components for renewable energy are built in factories by equipment driven by electric that was likely generated by coal: a fossil fuel. That same applies to those electric cars if they are from someone other than Tesla.

SodaStream. I don't know if it's helping yet, but at least I'm doing what I can. I also try to avoid Starbucks, and fast food places, but those do happen sometimes for me.

Soda stream is fantastic

Better than soda stream is home brewed iced tea.

Home brewed iced tea is yummy, but they are vastly different things

@Ogion ... I wasn't even talking plastics. Do you grow your own food? Did you build your house? Do you have a pool, or lights, or anything of the like? It was all shipped to you. I wish it was possible, but it's not... you can't boycott the oil companies. If you could, a lot of people would. That's why they are so powerful.

There was the Arab boycott of Israeli goods unless they were shipped through a third party country and there was no country of origin information to show it was made in Israel. Saudi Arabia wasn't going to give up Israeli chocolate for the Palestinians.

Yeah, one is good for you and one is a carbonated beverage.

Current list includes Walmart, Smithfield Foods, and Chick-Fil-A. And I don't care if it doesn't matter. It just helps me keep a clear conscience.

^That is what matters about a boycott.

I'm boycotting Aegean Airlines cause of the shitty service they gave me when I flew them whe in vacation in Greece.

However given how unlikely it is that I'll be going back to Greece anytime soon, I probably won't be flying them anytime soon anyway, even if I wasn't boycotting them.

Boycotting a company for political reasons, ie the chick-fil-a thing is stupid.

Boycotting them because of terrible service is something I support.