Thursday, February 17, 2011

Chick-Fil-A Boycott

UPDATE:  According to Debbie Davis they reduced their order by 25% yesterday (from 200 to 150) and as a result they sold out more quickly (noon instead of 1 or 2PM).  Does not seem that boycott has had a significant effect thus far.

The Chick-Fil-A Boycott is heating up like woah.  Today some dudes sat outside the Grind with signs (Cows 4 equality, etc.) and a petition.  Mike Fritsch told me not to buy any as I walked in, but really I was just getting the new copy of The Point News I (even though it's an evil newspaper full of lies and slander) so I think they were avoiding yelling at people.

Anyway, at this point we have the original boycott event on Facebook with 257 attending, and a 'Boycott the Chick-Fil-A Boycott' event right here with 113 attendees.



WHO WILL WIN?!


Well it seems like the Daily Grind will probably cave to pressure and change providers, assuming a replacement of some sort is found.  They are very open to discussing the issue with students, and I wouldn't be surprised if they stop selling it by March.

Anyway a cool thing is that the discourse has been for the most part civil (especially in the part of the organizers on both sides)

Anyways, dear readers, what do you think?  What would you want as an alternative?  My previous post had a lot of great discussion in the comments.

15 comments:

  1. Anyone know why the "Boycott the Boycott" was cancelled? Seems a little suspect.

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  2. I hope people on both sides understand it is about respect. There has been a great discussion taking place. Personally I have the right to not buy chick-fil-a. In that same right you are entitled to that option should you so choose. That is why chick-fil-a hasnt been removed. It is about informing people so that they can make their own decision as to whether or not they want to vote with their wallets.

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  3. I heard they got almost 1000 signatures on the petition.

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  4. Update: Significant effect of the boycott. It doesn't seem like the boycott has had a significant effect thus far.

    really?

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  5. The way I see it is that, the boycott did cause The Grind to reduce its order. However, it would appear that the sandwiches sold at similar rate as usual (they had fewer sandwiches and sold out sooner as a result).

    So yes obviously the boycott has had an impact on what the Grind is doing, but not on people who are buying stuff.

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  6. Boycotts like this also bring the entire product under a bigger spotlight than before. It's certainly possible that random passers-by were more likely to buy a sandwich than before because of the increased press, or that people against the boycott were buying more than usual in an effort to counteract the movement against Chik-Fil-A.

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  7. Yeah and that's another fair point. But that's not to say that boycotts are ineffective in general. And at this point it's too early to tell what sort of an effect this boycott will have.

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  8. We must continue to work towards a community built on the foundations of respect and tolerance. Through individual conscientious consumerism and thoughtful decisions on suppliers, we can work towards our common cause. There comes a point when our right to certain products will be superseded by the rights of all people to be treated equally and to have the freedom that they deserve.

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  9. I support gay rights and I also support the right for people to not have the same opinion as me so I have mixed feelings on the chick fil a thing. this issue aside, it would be awesome to have a local provider like blue wind.

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  10. although I do 100% support the boycott of chick fil a, (its not even that good!!) I do agree with other people that there a lot bigger and more invisible issues at this school....like bottled water, which is basically liquid evil, and where we source our gas, and how much some of the people who work here are paid. obviously we're not going to fix all of these (given the budget and stuff) but I also think there is a tendency for st marys to be like oh look at how liberal and awesome we are! in general and only do kind of shallow, visible stuff (not saying the right to love who ever you love is less important than this other stuff, just that we should focus on all of it too....)

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  11. http://vimeo.com/18680127
    all you haters: please stop dissing the food, its really good especially breakfast

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  12. Oh yes, that was a powerful statement - "Any homo at all can walk into our stores and give us their money! We don't discriminate!" That's sooooooo not what this is all about, and a horrible PR spin at that. I'm just glad it's been effective enough that they've taken notice enough to reply, as weak as it was.

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  13. The way I see it, it's a really STUPID FUCKING DEBATE. CAN WE PLEASE GET A GRIP. The reality is that Chick-Fil-A supports many, many groups and organizations with its money, as does ANY corporation of significant importance. And there are always going to be opponents to any public interest being supported, because opinions vary greatly especially in hotspots of academia, such as a college campus.

    HOWEVER, the students here do not realize how misplaced their efforts are, because as with any great effort on this campus, people who support an organized boycott here are HUGE HYPOCRITES NO MATTER WHAT. Do you eat Great Room food every day? What about Quizno's? Do you eat any processed food ever? If you answered yes (that is, if you are a normal human being), then you probably support (in as substantial a manner as if you had bought a Chic-Fil-A sandwich) inadvertent financial contributions toward organizations and interests you do not support.

    Basically, I will only respect your "enlightened" efforts to boycott certain organizations ONLY WHEN you have first eliminated ALL OTHER FORMS of hypocrisy in your personal spending. Now shut up and eat the chicken sandwiches. They aren't half as bad as the other shit you unknowingly support every day.

    (uber-liberals are misinformed and self-righteously wrong)

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  14. Oh yeah, support everything until you can feasibly support nothing. That makes TOTAL sense.

    "Oh hey guys, let's not give former slaves the right to vote because it's totally hypocritical of us to due so without also giving women the vote. It makes sense for us to wait until we can feasibly make one HUGE LEAP towards equal suffrage instead of taking small steps towards equality."

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  15. person 2 posts above me thinks that avoiding hypocrisy is a justification for moral nihilism, pass it on

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