First blog post

Posted on by Grant Conarchy

As time goes on there is a growing feeling of corporate America running
everything and small businesses being hurt in the process, “The rich get richer” is an old saying that still seems to have relevance to it. However some of the biggest companies have also faced pretty big controversies in the past. Now more than ever we are seeing companies being boycotted left and right. In the past month there have been boycotts on Uber, Starbucks, and Nordstrom to name a few. Some of the recent boycotts have boiled over and some have continued to start conversations on the company’s policies, but what’s the long term for boycotting, and does boycotting actually affect company’s sales? Also with the increase in use of social media are unjustified boycotts becoming a common thing?
One of biggest environmental disasters to face the United States was the BP,
Deepwater horizon oil spill that lasted for four months in 2010. There was an estimated
discharge of 4.9 million barrels of oil pumped out into the Gulf of Mexico. There are
eight thousand species that live in the affected spill area and some effects of the oil spill
were irregular heartbeats that turned into cardiac arrests in some fish. BP faced massive
boycotts after the spill due the gross negligence of the company and many felt as though
this was a preventable disaster. BP spent 100$ Million on advertising during the four
months of the oil spill. Even though many people still have hard feelings over BP, and
some will refuse to use the company it seems as though the company isn’t seeing a loss
of profits judging by the fact that BP’s revenue went from $300 billion in 2010 to roughly
$400 billion in 2014. Through the firing of their CEO and the millions they spent on
positive advertisement showing how much they were doing for the relief, BP seems to
have been able to positively spin the effects of the oil spill.
Another Company who face massive boycotts was Chick-Fil-A who’s COO spoke
out against same-sex marriage in June 2012. Chick-Fil-A faced backlash and also some
praise, with an organized “Chick-Fil-A appreciation day” that took place in August 2012
where there were lines outside most of its stores. Though there were some good reactions,
there was still a massive amount of backlash against Chick-Fil-A in the media. After the
Chick-Fil-A appreciation day in 2012, in some Chick-Fil-A locations same-sex couples
lined up in front of the stores and would kiss in protest in hopes to show Chick-Fil-A
“Support of Love, Equality, and the Real Definition of Marriage!” Chick-Fil-A seemed to
have been more affected by the backlash, in September of 2012 the company agreed to
stop funding anti-LGBT organizations.
These two boycotts have been well-organized protests and relatively successful in
their goal. However, due to the increase of social media are unjustified boycotts
becoming a thing that happens more often? On December 21, 2016 YouTube prankster
Adam Saleh was kicked off of his Delta flight, he posted a video to twitter saying in his
video “I am being asked to leave because I was talking to my mom in Arabic on the
phone” the video quickly went viral with thousands of Twitter users tweeting and using
the hash tag “#BoycottDelta” Delta was very quick to release a statement on Twitter
saying “We are currently investigating this incident.” Delta later said Adam was kicked
of the plane for shouting repeatedly after being asked to quiet down. Many people
pointed to Adam’s past of posting videos on YouTube claiming he had actual footage of
him being discriminated against by the NYPD which was later found out to be actors dressed up as NYPD officers. He also has made many videos on airplanes where he
counts down in Arabic from 10-1 and obviously hoping to get a reaction out of it. Even
though there was no clear evidence behind his video it very quickly became a massive
boycott.
There have been clear cases of injustices that have resulted in boycotts in the past.
Companies are quick to see the possible bad side affects behind these boycotts and will
work to change their policies in order to try and prevent further boycotts. We live in a
world where social issues are more important than ever and boycotts will continue to be a
massive movement in politics. As we continue on in this political climate it is important
to check the credibility of an issue before we get behind a boycott, with fake news
becoming a prominent thing on social media we have to use our resources in order to
make credible arguments in the future.
Works cited
“BP PLC ADR.” MarketWatch. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.
CNN Wire Staff. “Gay Rights Activists to Hold Kiss Protests at Chick-fil-A
Restaurants.” CNN. Cable News Network, 2 Aug. 2012. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.
DuBois, Shelley. “Update: BP’s Advertising Budget during the Spill Neared $100
Million.” BP’s Advertising Budget during the Spill. CNN, 01 Sept. 2010. Web. 24 Feb.
2017
Sahagun, Louis. “Toxins Released by Oil Spills Send Fish Hearts into Cardiac
Arrest.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 13 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.