question: in the UK we get alot of boycott calls. But should there be a set period for a boycott? I submit a range of offences should have a period of time. 1) food poisoning: 6 months

CyprianSceptre, 5 months ago

I actively avoid Cadburys after Kraft took it over More Info. Wouldn’t say it’s a full boycott, because I do have a Crunchie every now and again (when Cadburys is the only thing on discount), but it has been more than 10 years now.

Thing is I just bought a box of miniture heroes and I’d say the chocolate has gone seriously downhill since I stopped buying it. Wondering if its just my taste that’s changed or if anyone else agrees?

snacks, 5 months ago

alot of UK product sugar content has been lowered and replaced with flavour enhancers since the sugar tax came in a few years ago. Coke Zero is another one, its got sugar in but below the amount required to register it on the label and they boost the taste with enhancers.

The other thing is ingredients change flavour depending on the year. Tea for example is always changing slightly back and forward depending on how much rain and sun during growing, but its blended so nobody really notices except the labs importing the tea leaves.

Teknikal, 5 months ago

I personally only Boycott companies I feel have wronged me currently that’s Sony and Virgin Media.

Neither will ever get a penny from me again. Sony deleted my account with bought Vita/psp games they sent an email saying some UK law made them have to unless I logged in on time the account was already gone when they sent it. (also bullshit no other company has deleted any of my accounts especially with items I’d payed for).

Virgin made me go to an ombudsman because they refused to cancel my contract after raising prices and telling me I could leave if I didn’t accept it.

They kept me on hold, transferred me around for hours at a time to Indian call centres I couldn’t even understand then eventually would either hang up or outright lie about cancelling. This went on for 2 months.

So yeah those two are boycotted for life and they are lucky I’m not in a position currently to sue them.

AllNewTypeFace, 5 months ago

If it’s an ongoing pattern of malpractice, the boycott theoretically goes on. People have been boycotting Nestlé for something like 40 years over their pushing of infant formula in the developing world (and, more recently, other sharp practices such as taking privatised water supplies away from local communities), though to be sure, some people carve out exceptions for Nespresso capsules or Japanese Kit-Kats or such; as Jello Biafra put it, give me convenience, or give me death.

JoBo, 5 months ago

Excluding purely personal beef, the purpose of a boycott is to apply pressure. You do it until the entity accepts responsibility and changes their behaviour. Forgiveness is an interactive process which requires both parties; it can’t run to a timetable.

snacks, 5 months ago

blimey thats an answer!

So, if mcdonalds apologised, that means its over? Im not sure thats right, that means theres no consequences.

JoBo, 5 months ago

Forgiveness does not automatically follow from an apology, no.

snacks, 5 months ago

right so it dosnt end when they apologise and change behaviour. I agree! I think you can have a rule of thumb which says 2 years for hosing down a homeless person. Its more for the transgessor than the person getting the hosing, so there is a basic decent contract which says they wont be seeing a chunk of people for two whole years.

ChaoticEntropy, 5 months ago

What are you even talking about at this point… people don’t “boycott” entire companies for these single employee actions that you keep referring to.

JoBo, 5 months ago

Wut?

apis, 5 months ago

Only if one interprets an apology as a meaningful change of behaviour.

Depending on context, one might, I’d think that would be reserved for matters of simple human error, and even then I think one would still wish to see measures to prevent similar in future.

Hosing down a homeless person doesn’t fall into that category, being intentionally awful, and likely emerging from abusive or highly neglectful management practices. For things like this, one would be seeking changes which go to addressing the core of the offence.

In reality it is hard to assess whether reforms have been implemented, especially with huge multinationals that can deploy heavy PR campaigns, but I don’t know that anyone is going to cry if a boycott persists somewhat longer than is necessary.