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NO-BUY-FRIDAY AND THE HISTORY OF BOYCOTTS (THEY WORK) [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-20
Why are many people pushing for No-Buy-Friday? To get the attention of and hurt the corporations that are destroying the country. Boycotts can work. In fact, let’s take a look at some unsuccessful and successful boycotts and see if there are any tips we can use.
What Is A Boycott?
A boycott, according to Wikipedia, is “an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest… The purpose of a boycott is to inflict some economic loss on the target, or to indicate a moral outrage, usually to try to compel the target to alter” a specific behavior.
The origin of the word “boycott” is a great example. Captain Charles Boycott was a petty and officious agent of a huge absentee landlord in Ireland. Local activists, fighting evictions, pushed for Boycott’s employees, including seasonal harvesters, to withdraw their labor and to isolate (ostracize) Boycott in the community. Soon shops refused to serve him, people wouldn’t work for him, the tenants hated him, and he eventually was forced to leave Ireland for good. The Boycott boycott cost the British government and others at least £10,500 (the modern equivalent is slightly over $1.3 million).
The boycotters had a target (Captain Boycott), a goal (to get rid of Boycott), and the means to achieve their goal (withhold work, recognition, economic transactions).
The original Boycott
Some Less Successful Boycotts
Saints fans boycotted Super Bowl LIII because they were angry at a missed call that they said cost them the chance to play in the Super Bowl. While the boycotting New Orleans fans had fun, the boycott didn’t accomplish anything because there was no target. Ratings were down, but they were down nationwide. If you can generate negative headlines about the target, you’re more likely to win. But who was the target here: the referee who missed the call, professional football, the Super Bowl broadcast, something else? Without a clear target, a boycott can fail.
because they were angry at a missed call that they said cost them the chance to play in the Super Bowl. While the boycotting New Orleans fans had fun, the boycott didn’t accomplish anything because there was no target. Ratings were down, but they were down nationwide. If you can generate negative headlines about the target, you’re more likely to win. But who was the target here: the referee who missed the call, professional football, the Super Bowl broadcast, something else? Without a clear target, a boycott can fail. The BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) Movement was modeled after South Africa’s anti-Apartheid movement. As BDS started to gain traction and popular attention, major institutional forces entered the fight against it, calling its goals antisemitic and terrorism. Without clear goals, a boycott can fail.
(Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) Movement was modeled after South Africa’s anti-Apartheid movement. As BDS started to gain traction and popular attention, major institutional forces entered the fight against it, calling its goals antisemitic and terrorism. Without clear goals, a boycott can fail. The CalSTRS Fossil Fuel divestment movement has failed so far even though the majority of CalSTRS members want divestment and it is the economically responsible position to take. The target is clear (the CalSTRS fund), the goal is clear and easily defined (divest from fossil fuel companies), but the means haven’t been figured out yet. The Teachers’ Retirement Board, the group that makes CalSTRS investment decisions, is weighted in the governor’s favor. And Gov. Newsom loves the fossil fuel industry. Without adequate means, a boycott can fail.
Some Very Successful Boycotts
TARGET - Gandhi organized a massive boycott of British Goods including the march to the sea. It worked.
GOALS - The anti-Apartheid movement was very successful, which is part of why Musky is so upset about it and trying to undo it.
MEANS - Lysistrata is fiction, but sex strikes are not. Successful examples include The Nigerian Igbo women’s Council, the 2009 Kenya sex strike, and various Columbian Crossed Legs Movement actions.
Modern Boycotts, or The Internet is Good at Organizing and Bad PR
There have been a ton of boycotts, some more serious than others, that have centered around social media, such as the Dr. Laura boycott, various gun-connected boycotts, and even regime boycotts. A current example of an internet-based boycott is No Buy in 2025, mostly with the goal to reduce individual debt and stress. But No Buy is in the ether, and a recession roaring toward us.
No-Buy-Friday
It looks like a successful boycott needs clearly defined targets, goals, and means. A very PR-conscious target and bad PR means go a long way toward obtaining a boycott’s goals.
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