The Washington Post's "On Faith" forum looks at anti- and pro-gay rights boycotts. Note that the initial post claims a McDonald's caved-in to the religious right, but that a commenter who called the McCorp HQ got a very different response.
I think it all goes to show that, these days, boycotts are basically a fund-raising tactic by both sides, directed more at their members/donors than anyone else. They almost never (or, make that just "never") have any real economic impact. Sometimes a corporation will initially get scared and announce a retreat, only to then receive a barrage of complaints and boycott threats from the other side. By now, U.S. businesses have basically figured this out.
But the whole game does give the boycotters (on both sides) the emotional satisfaction of believing that they are following in the footsteps of Gandhi and King.
One Comment for “Culture War Boycotts, for Fun and Profit”
posted by Carl on
The main difference between gays who boycott and homophobes who boycott is that many times, gay groups boycott organizations or companies who directly, negative impact the lives of gays and lesbians. Homophobes who boycott are not directly hurt by the organizations they protest against. Instead it’s always some “agenda” which they spin as indoctrinating and scheming and wanting to corrupt the minds of children.
Thank you for letting us know about McDonald’s. I have eaten there for many years. In the past five or so years that has happened less and less because their food has noticeably declined in quality, but I’ve kept hoping things will improve. This gives me a good reason to no longer support them.