There are just some hills we plant our feet on and pledge to hold out until death.
We have to put our money and influence where our mouths are.
And sometimes boycotting is the way to go.
If a certain clothing line uses child labor... and you care... as you should... you buy a different line.
I'm looking at you Kathy Lee!
You get the idea.
Let's hear what hills everyone is on.
Redditor SteelTookSteroids wanted to discuss all the things people will not support, no matter what. They asked:
"What's something you're boycotting till the day you die?"
I will not give my patronage to Chick-Fil-A. How you spend your support in LGBTQIA+ issues is important to me.
A Never Clicker
Ads on Ads on AdsGiphy"Clicking on the ads that are at the top of my Google search. I will scroll all the way down to click on the exact same link."
LurkeyMcLurkersen
I have no tolerance...
"Cable TV, I’m not going to pay $120 a month for something and still have it be 1/3 commercials, I spend half as much and have everything I need whenever I want it with no ads."
CoolGuyZone069
"Cable TV is so INFURIATING. I dog sit for my grandparents and their internet can be god awful and I'm stuck watching their cable tv... I want to claw my eyes out everytime. It's legit mostly commercials. I have no tolerance for it anymore."
Frizzycatt
'taking what you can get'
"My wife hasn’t been in a Walmart in 20 years. I admire her commitment and they are starting to feel the pressure."
njdevil956
"Same. 'No ethical consumption' etc aside, Walmart is contemptuous of its customers as well as its workers. It's stunning how few people they have running the stores now, and that hurts customers AND workers, as well as the level of actual service. What's the point of having department counters when they're all empty?"
"The quality is nonexistent, getting groceries is an excersise in 'taking what you can get' because they intentionally limit their selection to maximize return on bulk orders (hence, half an aisle of mac and cheese for instance), and the 'here's a pallet, grab it or whatever' method of leaving half-opened shipments of groceries in the aisle has turned the whole place into an uninviting supply depot. Only way I walk back into WalMart is if the zombies rise."
Mr_Shakes
but never again...
"Grubhub, for making me suffer through that cringy ad."
draiman
"For me, Postmates. They didn’t bring what we ordered. Then I called them, they said they can’t rectify it. Then after a long back and forth whoever was there spoke to their manager, and said fine, they’ll do it this once, but never again. So guess who is never again getting my business. I can’t just pay for a service and not receive it, obviously."
rstgrpr
Gross
Kylie Jenner Selfie GIF by ADWEEKGiphy"Forbes for calling Kylie Jenner a 'self-made' billionaire."
mr-nobody_458623
I am so over the any name with a K at this point. And all because of that family.
Not Them!
the loud house trash GIF by NickelodeonGiphy"Nestle bottled water. (Also, yes Nestle anything, but they own so much it's hard to avoid, f**k their water program in particular)."
SomethingWithLegs
A slightly more legal pyramid scheme...
"MLM companies. I've had to cut old friends out of my life due to this."
Individual_Lemon_139
"I'm a small business owner and sell at a lot of markets - literally every market is chock full of scentsy/Mary kay/paparazzi/etc. I don't support MLMs as a rule but I also have to befriend the Mary Kay lady and the pampered chef lady because they're the head of the local small business coalition. MLMs aren't small businesses though IMO."
ktheway
In Video
"Microtransactions in video games. Not even once!!"
Napp2dope
"Same. At first it was for principle. I shouldn’t pay a bunch of extra money to get to play the game when I already paid for it. Then it became out of a slight fear. Met a few ppl once that said they spent 6-10k a year on those transactions for a free mobile game. They said so casually to that I realized how much of an addiction it can become."
Jac1596
Stay Away
"Heroin."
ChandlerBingChilling
"Right on! Too many friends and classmates I grew up with are gone now because of that sh*t. Just lost another one 2 days ago, man. Breaks my f**king heart."
"They had kids and everything, and now they're without fathers, mothers, or both. It hits even harder when you thought they were getting on the other side of it and you were rooting for them. It's crazy to look back and remember them as kids, and just like that, they're not here anymore. We're all only in our 30s. This isn't ok."
Abject_Presentation8
Back off Ron...
crazy tom cruise GIFGiphy"Scientologists."
CDNGooner1
"Yes! I worked for a place that forced me to take L. Ron Hubbard courses! I had to take a whole course on how to control people in a workplace!"
Sammie2Dope
Damn Ed
"Uncle Ed’s oil shop. They damaged my car when I was 17 and then tried to tell me I was lying to them and my story changed. It never changed and the ended up sending it to a mechanic to fix their mistake. I’ve never used them since. I’ve also told countless people this so who knows how many potential customers they’ve lost."
Robadamous
Sorry Mark...
"Facebook."
Tanyaschmidt
"I’m on my 6th year of boycotting Facebook. Looking forward to the day I’ve boycotted longer than I was on it."
zeldasusername
"I'm on year 4. Lord give me strength. Own two businesses and thankfully my employees take care of fb messages. Damn I hate FB. It's full of nothing but happy stories about shitty/toxic relationships and ads and garbage."
dmMatrix
Never Again
"I had one pair of Nike shoes and the back part of the inside by where my heel/ankle is got worn open which happens to most of my shoes but there was this sharp bit of plastic in it that would literally cut my foot and make it bleed. I now will not buy them ever again because of that, sucks because I already was picky with sneakers and now I avoid a while brand."
iimuffinsaur
Over It
the mask time GIFGiphy"Award shows, they're all boring and most of the time are rigged."
Hour-Wheel-2219
When in NC
"This one gas station, when I first moved to NC I would buy beer every few days (I was 21 and lived with fellow young connoisseurs of cheap beer) and they had no problem then this new guy denied me for out of state ID, and he was rude AF about it, told me to put the beer back and told him to do it himself, it's his job. Walked next door and bought my beer. Looking back it's petty but seriously there was no need to be rude."
Psyco_diver
TWO DOORS DOWN
"Old age nursing homes. They left my 89 year old granddad with Parkinsons sitting in a shit filled diaper... for seven hours straight. He yelled out for help and pressed his emergency life buttons twenty times in total. They was no reason the staff wouldn't have heard him, as a large group of them were sitting on their phones just TWO DOORS down from his room at the time. The smell was so bad we had to leave his bedroom windows open for a week, and most of the poop was crusted by that point."
Affectionate-Feed538
Send it Back
"Wayfair. I ordered a poker table from them and after three months all that happened was that it went from one of their warehouses to another of their warehouses. When I canceled the order, they charged me a $250 fee to send it back to the original warehouse."
ostentia
Ticked Off...
Hungry Lets Eat GIF by TikTokGiphy"Tiktok. It’s not like I’ll completely ignore my friends that show me funny ones, but I refuse to download the app and get sucked into it like so many people have."
brutesquad98
Vandal
"We’re renting in an HOA and they sent us a fine because our nine-year-old was 'vandalizing property by throwing large chunks of ice at cars and houses.' There was video. He had thrown a snowball at his friend 20 feet away from property. His friend threw a snowball in the general direction of the parking lot."
"His second 'offense' was 'damaging traffic cones.' Someone kicked one over near the bus stop. I ripped the HOA a new a**hole and our landlord threatened to sue if they ever pull that bulls**t again."
hannahmel
Does Scientology even exist anymore?
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Capitalism means that brands compete for consumers. One negative experience at a brand by one human can lose that brand hundreds of customers.
If it gets bad enough, that brand could even go out of business.
Brands can also be political.
Nike standing with Colin Kaepernick both gained and lost it a substantial amount of customers.
Choosing or shunning a brand makes a statement.
What statement do you make?
Redditor jngdavid asked:
"Which brand has lost you as a customer?"
Here were some of those stories.
Bye Bye Bank
Bank of America. Their ATM was down so I had to go in and deposit my check. Paid all of my bills and had pretty much no money (this was during college), and they hit me with a $10 service fee which overdrew my account, and then they charged me a $35 overdraft fee.
So, $45 I didn't have because their machine was down. The person I talked to on the phone was a complete dick and I decided to get rid of my account right then and there. He then gave me an attitude about canceling. Eff that guy and eff Bank of America.
A Problem They Created
Movistar. Once they downgraded my phone "on accident" and later were unable to undo the downgrade because "they can't replace a phone by another model" and kept me waiting for two months until I said "screw it" and bought another phone.
Money Out The Wazoo
Ticketmaster ... .00034 seconds after tickets go on sale, SOLD OUT for all but cosmically afar seats but their subsidiary Stubhub has them for 400% more but you need to pay an oxygen fee, electricity fee, left turning fee, reach around fee before the fee to disclose fees ... at least 50 shows that I've declined to go when I see that loathsome logo... never ever EVER going to pay them a dime .. probably a fee for that too...
The Fabric Attacks
Victoria's Secret. In my 20's everything I owned was from VS. Over time I realized the quality was declining and the prices were absurd. I would have reactions to whatever they treated the fabric with and that was the last straw. I stopped buying from them.
I'm Doing Your Job
Netgear. Buy one of their top end routers and when you need to update firmware, their automatic process corrupts on download ridiculously often, thus completely bricking it. Rather than fix it or offer to replace or anything, they just say "oh you should have done it manually because that happens a lot"
Wtf kind of response is that? Ridiculous
Left On Read
Progressive
A lawnmower hit my parked car during work last year and it was terrible dealing with Progressive. The claims agent I got stopped communicating with me after a certain point and I ended up having to hound the lawnmowing company's owner to pay for my car's repairs.
Spiteful Timing
Wells Fargo. Our first mortgage was thru them. After a couple years I get a call on the second of the month telling me my mortgage was due. I told them I had until the 15th. They told me that was a grace period and their investors preferred I pay on the first.
I told them I would make sure I never paid it before the 15th ever again and their investors could eat a bag of dicks. We paid the mortgage at 4:30 in the afternoon on the 15th (or closest prior weekday) for the next 5 years at the local branch which was a half mile from the house. Good times!
Sprint Far Away
Sprint. Recovering from surgery, sedated in a hospital, over 8 years ago, I had a pre-smart phone and no data plan. Accidentally pushed some sort of 'internet' button that literally brought up Sprint's home page. When the $450 bill arrived they refused to budge. I was within the 45 day 'cancel for full refund' stage.
This was a 2 year contract for my family of six. I returned the phones and cancelled the agreement but they refused to waive the internet charge. After talking on the phone with an escalation call center for over 4 hours I agreed to pay but vowed they would never see another penny from me.
One of a very small number of companies with a lifetime blacklist. I've paid my replacement carrier nearly $20,000 in the meantime. If Sprint ever merges with my carrier (they've tried a few times now), I will leave. If I go to a prepaid network, I will research to make sure whatever I use is not a rented Sprint network. Not one penny.
And I tell this story to anyone that will listen.
Find Another Sucker!
Adobe. I never liked their subscription model and then when administering licenses, the keys themselves end up being corrupted and then you have to go through a tedious process to have them all corrected again. Sub models on popular software always suck.
Transforming Furniture
Wayfair.
I was looking for a sectional and found one at a good price. The product page was a sectional, when I added it to my basket it was a sectional, when I paid for it my invoice said sectional, my confirmation email said it was a sectional... When I went to track the package, it magically turned into an Ottoman...
I called them and they said that they have to hold onto my money until the product was sent back to them. I understand that policy, however they were the ones that messed up. They requested that I take a day off of work to accept the package, so there's more money gone. They also didn't honor the sectional price as the sale was over when I found out about the issue...
This is the only time I ordered anything from them.
Post Office Shenanigans
Dell.
Several years ago my computer died and I sent the laptop in to get the motherboard repaired. The process of getting the box back and forth, took several weeks, and when the computer was returned the wifi antenna was broken.
Thr amount of phones calls I made trying to get boxes, and dealing with the same person was so frustrating. I even spent a full day waiting at a friends for a box they said was delivered, and never came. Ugh!
I was trying to keep it out of a landfill, but my parents were kind enough to get me a desktop since the repair took so long. I still have the laptop but it had been only a year old.
My previous laptop lasted nealy ten years with no problems, it was a Lenovo.
Life On The Screen
Netflix. I'm sick of getting invested in their shows just to have them cancel them around the season two mark with no resolution.
Big Brother
Amazon.
After reading about the way they treat their warehouse employees, we cancelled our Prime account. No regrets. Cancelled Audible, too. As much as possible, we avoid anything associated with Amazon.
There's plenty of additional information that's come out since that confirms it was the right decision.
Alexa? You have to be out of your @#$%ing mind to let that in your house.
Not My Fault
Bank of America. I had a mortgage with them, paid with autopay as long as I had the mortgage.
About 8 years later, they started applying my check to some guy named Bob in the midwest. No explanation. No mail. No email. Got a surprise one day when they tried to foreclose on me from out of the blue.
I went there with all of my canceled checks, and they wouldn't fix it until I talked to one of the Vice Presidents of the company.
BoA sucks.
A Return For Nobody
TurboTax. Please don't use TurboTax. They tried to charge me $150 for a tax refund that I got for free through another site. For anyone in the US, you can get the same refund for free, I used freetaxusa.com. Don't use TurboTax they're a scam.
Loss Of Values
McDonalds, totally.
I'm a bit ahem older than most Redditors, so I remember vividly how great McDonalds used to be as a family dining experience back in the 70s. They had a simple, tasty menu that appealed to both kids and adults and the restaurant experience itself was dynamic and well-themed. I even worked at one in high school in the 80s, and I consider that experience the solid foundation of my professional work ethic as an adult.
Now McDonalds is just another low-quality corporate "everything-to-everyone/nothing-to-nobody" chain with a massive menu of themeless mediocrity. For the cost of their food, I could easily go to any local family-owned restaurant and get a much better version as a sit-down experience.
Not So Super
Supercell because of their rigged matchmaking system in Clash Royale and their obvious attempts at getting you to buy more gems so that you can continue in their rigged challenges and so that you can get the best cards. And their Pass Royale which is a monthly purchase, like, do they get enough money from their gem sales.
So, their sleazy business practices and their attempts at getting you to buy more things to win their games have lost them a customer and a player.
Vinyl Records Just Aren't Portable
NEVER EVER I WILL BUY FROM CROSLEY!!!
I've heard how bad it is and how it tricked people but it's absolutely gross!! It looks cute, portable, and nice. However people saying it that it is of quality THEY ARE WRONG!!!
I'm sorry, portablers, but buy something non-portable and burn your vinyls to CDs so you can bring your music anywhere without destroying your vinyls.
Another Appearance For This Company
Netflix.
I once had an account, for one month. Then during Summer I see a purchase for 1 month. The funny thing is.. I am Hungarian, I bought from Netflx in my country's currency. But the purchase was from Brazil.
Tried to watch something since the currency was less than the HuF. It meant I paid less for this month subscription than before.
So I left it there, then in October it happened again.
After that I contacted Customer support, oddly there was no prompt where I could learn about what to do when your account is hacked.. Eventually in a live chat I was able to get it fixed, and I received my money in euroes..€. Wich is worth more than the currency they used.
The whole thing is a mess.
Running Away
Nike. Specifically for cross training and running shoes.
I was a collegiate sprinter and was big into crossfit for a while. Nike sneakers made for those things never stood up when it comes to wear and tear.
Within a month I had flaps on the soles come loose and rips in the sides. I swear they must put all of their efforts in basketball sneakers and Airforce 1s.
I'm not judging them off of one or two pairs either...I was a loyal Nike customer since high school and just figured that's how all shoes responded to intense exercise.
Then in college, my track team was sponsored by Ascics or Adidas (I forget, but it was one of those two A brands) and my world was changed. Those shoes lasted for seasons and I only replaced them each year because we got more for discount or free.
After college I tried Nike again because I had some money and wanted to splurge on dope looking shoes. Well, of course within weeks the soles started to deteriorate after basic running and exercising.
Overall, they still did the job but I'd rather pay for a shoe that does the same job without the quick wear and tear.
Worse Off Being A Loyal Customer
I wouldn’t say I’d never use Adobe again, I would just never auto renew my stuff.
Adobe’s renewal rate compared to cancelling and repurchasing my student plan was ridiculously significant. It would cost somewhere around £169.99 to buy into the full student creative cloud but they tried to push up the price to £249.99 if I simply let it auto renew after the year was up.
It seems like a bit of a dim idea to try and hike the price when it can be easily cancelled and bought again for the lower price. It’s funny to think that you’re worse off for being a loyal customer.
It's Not Snack Time
Late to the party and will get buried, but: any brand that forces me to listen to someone eating on their commercials.
KitKat, Beneful, Duracell - I have a list and, sadly, it grows probably weekly at this point. It's disgusting, advertisers, STOP IT.
Perhaps more than ever before, consumers are voting with their dollars.
What brands have lost you?
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Cottonelle Is Doling Out Some Amazing Responses To Haters Of Their New Ad Featuring A Gay Couple
One of Cottonelle's new "DownThereCare" TV spots includes a gay couple and some people are up in arms about it on Twitter.
The ad features a young man in slacks, dress shirt and a bow tie nervously awaiting a meeting with the parents of his significant other, while a voiceover extols the benefits of Cottonelle's rippled toilet paper in helping you feel clean and confident.
The commercial finishes with the line:
"So before they sit you down, give your booty a confidence boost with cleaning ripples that remove more at once for a superior clean and make you feel like the kind of guy he takes home to mother."
See for yourself:
Cottonelle® DownThereCare: Meet His Parents TV Spot www.youtube.com
In the 16 second clip, the couple is featured for no more than a few seconds. The fact that they are gay is in no way the focus of the commercial but, as always seems to be the case, some latched onto that one facet in outrage.
There are, of course, some people who simply can't handle the presence of a gay couple in advertising. Cottonelle wasn't having any of it, though, and took a definite stance against the vitriol.
@ShieldBiter1 Everyone should feel clean & confident, regardless of their orientation, gender, or anything else. Di… https://t.co/lMBWidIpF2— Cottonelle (@Cottonelle) 1551667994
@MSGLiberty Hi Kenny, thanks for reaching out. No matter a person’s orientation, gender, or anything else, being cl… https://t.co/z0c5i62MNr— Cottonelle (@Cottonelle) 1550544833
Recorded a movie. Watching. Cottonelle has a commercial with 2 guys in it, talking about cleaning “down there”.… https://t.co/XonkpSirJ9— drummer (@drummer) 1550863499
@silkride Being clean impacts everyone, and it’s an important step to feeling your best. Here at Cottonelle Brand,… https://t.co/mpOkGN1lAP— Cottonelle (@Cottonelle) 1550865240
@cottonelle, you’re selling toilet paper why do you have to inject homosexuals into your commercials. It’s disgusti… https://t.co/J2ZwrE6Nwx— Russ Larrivee (@Russ Larrivee) 1551407942
@rjlarrivee No matter a person’s orientation, gender, or anything else, being clean impacts everyone. Here at Cotto… https://t.co/CUskPeme0u— Cottonelle (@Cottonelle) 1551454293
Cottonelle wasn't the only one calling people out for their unwarranted outrage, though.
Some attempted to reason with the offended.
@voiceoversfast The people in the ad happen to be gay. Please explain how that makes it a "gay issue" any more than… https://t.co/2DsrGU334c— 🏳️🌈Rick🇺🇸 (@🏳️🌈Rick🇺🇸) 1551459101
Others chose the more humorous approach.
@rjlarrivee @cottonelle Well guess we know who's not cleaning down there! 🤣 https://t.co/ll9MgzVoEF— Liliths 7th Layer ✝ 😈 🔮 (@Liliths 7th Layer ✝ 😈 🔮) 1551563130
@rjlarrivee @cottonelle Oh Russ, you are so #sad maybe you need to open your mind and #relax it'll help you poop!— Papa Plaid (@Papa Plaid) 1551585545
Hmmm, @cottonelle being boycotted for an LGBT commercial? Buttwipes being boycotted by buttwipes. How novel.— Fuzzy the quad-core upgrade 5G Killbot (@Fuzzy the quad-core upgrade 5G Killbot) 1551792689
@MikeRBarnes2 @cottonelle @MSGLiberty One can only wonder what sort of deep seated insecurities would compel Mikey… https://t.co/1yf1CtWLy2— John Petry (@John Petry) 1551555113
Inclusion of members of the LGBT+ community in media of any kind, including advertising, is not "pushing the gay agenda," and the only way you could claim it was "in your face" is if you're sitting too close to the TV.