Are there any companies that you boycott for moral reasons?

Yep, Walmart

Citgo: profits go directly into Chavez’s pocket.

I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart as well.

I don’t buy Welch’s products. And I avoid Wal-Mart also.

@SoulSearcher . Ditto

I don’t go to WalMart, and avoid the Salvation Army, too.

I also download the HRC buyer’s guide every Christmas, read through it, and then totally forget almost everything I read when I make all my shopping decisions… But I do try!!

I don’t have to boycott Walmart because they went bust in Germany. Other than that, macdonalds and burger king.

@Jeruba . Why Welch’s? A agree about Walmart.

Actually, no.
Sorry, but I just can’t afford to be choosy about where I find my bargains these days.

There are places I refuse to shop because of personally experienced bad service, though – the K-mart near me (I’ve never been out the door without at least one price check), Walgreens (there’s NEVER someone at the register. I should not have to hunt for employees), and Chevron gas station (used to have a Chevron credit card. It was defrauded, and they refused to work with us on the issue)

@proXXi . I don’t buy from Citgo either.

Any company/corporation that is associated/affiliated with groups who are known to be racist, anti-gay rights, etc., such as Chick-fil-A. (I’m on the hate Wal-Mart side also.)

I’m another Wal*Mart avoider.

@Seek_Kolinahr I can’t afford to be choosy either.

Walmart’s bread and milk are much more affordable than Kroger’s. I also know many Walmart employees that would hate to lose their job. :/

Coke. Too many human rights violations for me.

Chick-fil-A. I don’t care how delicious your chicken is or how nice you are to your employees. You donate your money to Focus on the Family, you don’t get mine, mothafuckas.

@Qingu
You may have found a cause I can support. I love Chick-fil-A… but…. shudder
I will not be party to religious brainwashing.

I agree with WalMart. why are the employees not allowed to say Merry Christmas to the customers? this Christmas greeting has been around so long, that WalMart was just a twinkle in Sams eye. freedom of speech violation and WalMart will lose a lawsuit.

@Qingu Oh, God! There are no Chik-fil-As where I live, but now I know never to go there even when traveling. Does anyone know if there’s a list somewhere of all the corporations who donate to hate groups like Focus on the Family? I’d sure like to never buy anything from them ever again.

I won’t shop at walmart. And I try to avoid Coca Cola. Also, I won’t buy gas if I know the station is supplied by exxon.

i use only cosmetics which are not tested on animals

I’m with the folks who can’t afford to be choosy. :(

Apologies if you have already been there, done that but if you haven’t, you might like to watch The High Cost of Low Price

PS. We do not have Wal-Mart in NZ and god forbid the day!

I also avoid wal mart. Thankfully, I can afford to be choosy but I also know of some places near me that have good deals on a bunch of different things. I also avoid places that sell fur unless it’s a thrift/donation shop.

@Adagio
I have, and it really does pain me to know I’m supporting Big Business. Truly. I’m a big fan of The Little Guy. If I had it my way I’d buy handmade soap and only buy my groceries from the Farmer’s market… however, I’m at a point in my life where I have to budget for toilet paper, and my only health insurance is my herb garden. It’s a much-grudged blessing to be eligible for food stamps. I hate being on them, and I can’t wait until my family can afford to pay for its own food again.

The first one that came to mind was WalMart, for all the reasons previously stated. An additional reason is their predatory tactics in destroying locally owned business by undercutting them on price until driving them out, then raising their prices again. I want my money to stay in my community, not going to the heirs of Sam Walton. I generally avoid the products of companies that have bad reputations on workers rights and environmental issues.

@Jeruba I’m curious about Welch’s as well!

I did not know that about Chik-fil-A, I’m sad now :(

I’ve gone to WalMart a handful of times, and have asked my husband repeatedly to stop shopping there, but apparently it’s the only thing open after he’s done work, to pick up random things. boo.

I refuse to buy Dominos, and I refuse to eat it if someone else bought it, not just because it’s just all around disgusting “food” but because of where and who they give their money to.

@Frankie
Details, please?

My sister purposely does go to Chik-fil-A because of their (completely fucking un-)Christian crap. :(

It would seem that Domino’s is anti- abortion.

If you don’t believe in pizza, don’t have one.

Chik-fil-A sounds like some kind of porn star pseudonym…

Wal-Mart, definitely. Also, Sam’s Club, since it’s owned by the same folks.

I don’t boycott KFC per se, but ever since I got my hands on a PETA pamphlet about them in middle school, I just don’t eat there anymore.

PETA should rename itself PITA, standing for Pain In The Ass.

I haven’t seen a chick fil A since I have been in Australia but I used to love their food. I never heard of focus on family but I will check it out. If it is anti-gay it is ironic because it was a gay guy who introduced me to the place.

I always try to buy from the little guy but sometimes it just doesn’t work. I do boycott certain products in the supermarket, that’s the best I can do at the moment.

I think I’ll boycott Disney for Walter’s antisemitism…

But the Disney companies have a progressive policy regarding homosexual employees.

Fuck!!

Wait, people boycott Walmart because they say Happy Holidays and not Merry Christmas?

Ahahahaha! I mean, fine, go ahead.

@Qingu: Oh yeah, the people who claim it’s a war on Christmas… Once a guy said i have to say Merry Christmas because I was baptized to which I responded, “Um… no I wasn’t.” He was absolutely floored and had no response.

I like to wish people Happy Saturnalia.

@Seek_Kolinahr Dominos gives a lot of money to anti-abortion groups and law groups that push abstinence-only education in schools and laws against gay marriage. I read somewhere that the original founder built some sort of commune in Florida that is ultra-fundamentalist where any sort of contraception is not allowed, but I am not sure if that is actually true.

@proXXi Um…I don’t…that’s kind of the whole point of boycotting something…

@Frankie

Thanks. I looked this up on Snopes, and according to them, Dominos Pizza has never contributed to anti-abortion groups, but their founder has – acting as a private citizen who happens to have a lot of money to throw around. Monahan sold all his market share in Domino’s back in 1998, so no money earned by Domino’s will ever reach Monahan or the hate groups he supported.

I’ll have to go back to avoiding Domino’s on account of bad pizza, and not for moral issues. ^_^

Yes there are! Coca Cola and McDonalds

KFC although it helps that I don’t like chicken anyway!

If I am aware that a product tests on animals then I won’t use it. I buy most of my cosmetics/toiletries from places like The Body Shop for my own peace of mind.

@Leanne1986: A list of cruelty free cosmetic companies for you. There are some big ones on there that surprised and delighted me. :)

@KatawaGrey Thank you

@Leanne1986
@KatawaGrey

My personal favourite cosmetics company – Urban Decay – has many vegan makeup items.

Always waiting for a chance to plug Urban Decay

@Seek_Kolinahr: Ooo! Pretty and not too expensive either!

@thriftymaid and @casheroo, for the wrong reason, I just found out!

When I moved from the East to the West Coast and went grocery shopping with my not-yet-husband, he stopped me from purchasing my favorite tomato juice, Welch’s, saying he was not willing to support the guy who founded the John Birch Society. I agreed, and in the 30+ years since we have not bought one single Welch’s product.

Of course, that was long before the resources of the Internet were available to us, and it would have been a lot of trouble to actually research the question. I just took his word for it.

But last night, when you asked, I did a quick Google search and learned that the Welch who founded the John Birch Society is not the Welch’s grape juice and tomato juice guy at all. That was just an old and mistaken piece of information, now corrected. I am dismayed that I held onto the error for so long (and did without Welch’s grape jelly all that time!), but happy that I no longer have to avoid those products.

I am strongly in favor of not doing business with people who espouse political positions I disagree with. Personally, I boycott all actors, writers, directors, etc. who have an association with the communist party or communist front groups. And I encourage others in the industry to do so. I call it a “blacklist.”

I am being facetious, of course. I understand boycotting companies whom one believes engage in immoral practices. But boycotting companies because one disagrees with the political or religious opinions of their owners is unrefined McCarthyism. Tolerance is a virtue. Tolerance of diversity includes letting people believe what they want.