Friday, October 29, 2010

Boycotting companies who support the cuts

I can't bring myself to support this particular notion: that we boycott companies who back the government's plan to eliminate the deficit over the course of this parliament (see the Telegraph, here).

But if it's any comfort, I already do my best to boycott several of those companies for other reasons: Alliance Boots and GlaxoSmithKline are just two. I boycott these companies for ethical reasons, for the fact many of their products are brought to market having been tested on animals.

I personally recommend the Co-operative and Body Shop for providing products that haven't been tested on animals. It's also why I only buy my cats Applaws food, because the parent company (MPM Products) has been recommended by PETA. Bet you didn't realise your pet food is tested on animals in laboratory conditions, did you?

I boycott many companies based on their ethical standards - or lack of it. I don't buy petrol from Esso, I only purchase fair-trade chocolate having seen the environmental destruction wrought in the name of growing cocoa in the National Geographic, the list goes on and will grow as I become more aware of other ethical issues with products I consume. But I'm not pretending to be perfect - far from it, I'm sure there are many products I should be boycotting and turn a sub-conscious blind eye to.

My attitude is, if people want to boycott, all well and good, but perhaps it's time we looked a little harder at the companies we give our money to in good times as well as bad. If you boycott because of the cuts, also try to take more ethical choices with other products and companies too.

2 comments:

Rhian Drinkwater said...

The problem with the Body Shop is it's owned by L'Oreal, which is quarter owned by Nestle, so it comes under the Nestle boycott!

I like the idea of the cuts boycott, but it's a similar issue to the above - M&S is included, but most of the time they're a really ethical brand to use, one of the best for their clothes for instance.

Nick said...

Tis a very good point about Body Shop. I wasn't overly happy when it ended up under L'Oreal/Nestle, but decided to make a deal with the devil. However, I should probably revisit it!