This post is somewhat inspired by a recent post in this same community called “Is anyone else having trouble giving up Reddit due to content?”

I imagine “Reddit” will be a common answer. (And it’s one of my answers.)

Another of my answers is “Hasbro.” First Wizards of the Coast (a Hasbro subsidiary) tried to revoke an irrevokable license and screw over basically all 3rd-party publishers of D&D content, then they sent literal mercinaries to threaten one of their customers over an order mixup that wasn’t even the customer’s fault. D&D: Honor Among Thieves and the latest Transformers look really good, but those are within the scope of my boycott, so I won’t be seeing those any time soon.

Third, Microsoft. (Apple too, but then I’ve never bought any Apple devices in my life, so it hardly qualifies as a boycott.) Just because of their penchant for using devices I own against me in every way they can imagine. And for really predatory business practices.

One boycott that I’ve ended was a boycott of Nintendo. I was pissed that they started marketing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (though it didn’t have a name at the time) before the WiiU came out, prompting me to be an early adopter of the WiiU, and then when they actually released BotW, they dual-released it on WiiU and Switch. I slightly eased my boycott when the unpatchable Fusee Gilee vulnerability for the first batch of Switches was discovered. I wanted to get one of the ones I could hack and run homebrew on before they came out with a model that lacked the vulnerability.

    • jpeps@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      10
      ·
      1 year ago

      Quick FYI to Europeans who want to boycott Nestlé: Häagen-Dazs is not owned by Nestlé in Europe.

    • milkisklim@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      For ice cream, try Tillamook if it’s in your grocery store! More affordable than Ben and Jerry’s and more cream than what’s legally mandated!

    • Kingofthezyx@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      Made me really sad when I learned Sweet Earth is Nestlé because they have a really good Seitan (wheat gluten) Bacon that is super tasty and difficult to replicate. But I like not supporting scum more than I like vegan bacon substitutes so 🤷

  • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    80
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    At this point, what am I not boycotting? lol

    I guess this is the abridged no-go list:

    • Nestle (duh)
    • BP (still haven’t forgiven them for lubricating the Gulf of Mexico and being like “oops, sorry”)
    • Verizon (injecting tracking IDs into customer web traffic to sell to advertisers while also charging me $60/mo for 2 GB of data – I’m a product or a customer. I will not be both.)
    • RWNJ-owned businesses (Chick-fil-A, In-n-Out, Hobby Lobby, Applebees, etc)
    • AT&T (After so many years, I forget exactly why, but they’re just evil)
    • The entire states of Florida and Texas
    • The lottery (I’d have the same payout and more fun just setting the money on fire)
    • Microsoft (It’s MY computer, not yours)
    • Apple (Overpriced hardware, control-freak walled garden, everything needs a damn $29 dongle, etc)
    • Reddit, Facebook, Twitter (also blocked in firewall)
    • Amazon (except the 2-3 times a year they give me a free month of Prime and I buy all my stuff, take the free 1-2 day shipping and cancel before they bill me)

    Late additions:

    • ExLisper@linux.community
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      1 year ago

      BP (still haven’t forgiven them for lubricating the Gulf of Mexico and being like “oops, sorry”)

      Same. Started avoiding them after the disaster and never had the need to go back. I drive electric car now.

    • xapr@lemmy.sdf.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      My list is pretty similar to yours, with major exceptions that I include all the giant multinational oil companies (i.e., BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell - I get gas from Arco). I also substitute Google in place of Apple. I avoid Amazon like the plague, unless there is absolutely nowhere else I can buy something. I also have all the US mega banks on my list. Kroger’s grocery stores. Probably a few more things I can’t think of right now.

    • tallwookie@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      really? I like BoA - the tellers are friendly and I’ve never really had any issues with extra fees. been with them for over 20 years now

  • NewNewAccount@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    63
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    Chick-Fil-A for their support for organizations that are anti-LGBT. Apparently these donations have stopped but I’m stubborn.

    • pizza-bagel@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      35
      ·
      1 year ago

      I haven’t paid attention for a couple years, but the last time they “stopped” they just started donating to a charity they made to cover up that they are still donating to the same places. But they didn’t do it directly so it doesn’t count.

      And the owners themselves are still donating to anti LGBT shit regardless, at least one of them has been funding an organization that has been assisting with putting out all these recent anti LGBT+ bills.

    • Yo_Honcho@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      12
      ·
      1 year ago

      I honestly don’t get their popularity. Not because of politics but I can honestly get a better chicken sandwich 5 min drive away.

      • tallwookie@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        it tastes good and it’s convenient - not all places have a wide variety of restaurants

    • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      The company never apologized for any of it, so why should any of us forgive them? Dan Cathy made a big speech defending the contributions of company profits to anti-lgbtq groups, including groups supporting conversion therapy, and proclaimed that gay people are an affront to God.

      I don’t just not eat here, I actively judge the people that do. I’m not sorry. It’s not hard to avoid eating greasy chicken from a restaurant that has become a cultural monument to desperaging people for the way they were born.

    • Djennik@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      25
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      And is a major cause of deforestation, biodiversity decline, antibiotic resistance, water pollution and water overuse, … And of course animal cruelty and abuse.

  • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    31
    ·
    1 year ago

    I’m boycotting everything from Nestlé, which can get difficult since that evil octopus of a company has so many goddamn tentacles!

    As for boycotts I’ve ended, I used to boycott the Lotus brand of toilet paper and paper towels because they were made by a Koch Industries subsidiary but then they sold the brand off to a socially and environmentally conscious Swedish company so I started buying them again.

  • nik282000@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    27
    ·
    1 year ago

    Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Twitter, TikTok. Most people I work with think I’m totally out of touch with reality because I don’t use any of the big social media platforms and then they watch the same 12 ads and 3 videos on 5 different apps.

  • Nusm@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    1 year ago

    The gas station down on the corner. When I first moved here, I went there all the time because it was convenient. Gas, bread, soda, you name it, I would swing through there and pick it up. I stopped every single work morning and got coffee on the way to work. I started bringing my own insulated cup, so they charged me less. Then it was bought by a new owner, and he wanted to charge me more. Okay, it was still cheaper than if I used their cup and more convenient than making it at home - they provide the coffee, sweetener, creamer, and there’s no clean up on my part. One day I went in with a new cup that was the same capacity as the old cup. A different shape, but it held the same number of ounces. The owner said, “that cup’s bigger, I charge you more.” I tried to argue, but he didn’t budge, and he charged me the same amount as a large coffee in their cup. Now, I’m not stupid, I’ve worked in retail before, I know the largest cost to a cup of coffee is the cup, but I paid it, walked out the door, and never set foot in there again. That’s been eleven years ago, and I don’t plan to go back. I hope the few cents he greedily wanted over coffee was worth all the other lost sales.

  • davidgro@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    1 year ago

    I used to boycott ATI before AMD bought them, because the driver support on Linux was so bad. I got a laptop with a GPU they didn’t support until almost a couple years later, and then as soon as it worked, they dropped support because it was too old.

    Now they have the open source driver and better GPU support than Nvidia.

  • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    26
    arrow-down
    4
    ·
    1 year ago

    Nothing. I’ve given up.

    I am too small to make a difference, unable to convince others in my life to join, and the companies I want to boycott have grown so big that their brands are everywhere and it’s exhausting to try to keep track of them all. Plus, boycotts are pretty ineffective these days. Even in the most extreme cases, companies now know they only have to wait ~2-3 months before the masses stop caring and move on to something else.

    Now I just live my life. I support causes I believe in, try to treat everyone I meet with kindness and respect, and do what I can to give myself and my family a happy, comfortable life. That’s all I can do, it may not be enough to save the world, but it’s enough to save me and those I love

  • GreenMario@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    1 year ago

    Facebook. Never had an account. In the early days I was afraid id lose job opportunities because something I’d post or others post with me in it, like smoking a bong or maybe just drunken 2am rant.

    Now I don’t like it cuz it converts sweet old people into Nazis. Among everything else.

  • BOMBS@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Reddit - API fiasco, antagonistic, and predictable

    Facebook - it’s crap

    Instagram - popularity contest

    WhatsApp - unnecessary

    Snapchat - unnecessary

    TikTok - Chinese spyware

    Microsoft - bloat and privacy

    Adobe - expensive and slow

    Twitter/X - crap

    Elon Musk news - annoying

    Oil change places - rip off & untrustworthy

    Tire places except for Costco - rip off

    Toyota dealerships - shady and deceptive

    Apple - expensive and limiting

    Netflix - crap

    Hulu - crap

    Wendy’s - crap

    KFC - crap

    Bottled water - expensive and wasteful

    Sodas - terrible for health

    Papa Johns - treats employees like shit, crap politics, expensive

    Panda Express - generic, local places are better

    Pollo Tropical - generic, local places are better

    Checking & savings banks - credit unions are much better for their customers

    American cars - crap

    BMW - for dickheads and too expensive

    HOAs - waste of money, too controlling

    Autism Speaks - more harmful than good

    Susan G Komen - selfish litigators

    Better Help - pays their clinicians shit, so you’re getting bottom of the barrel therapy

  • derpgon@programming.dev
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Apple - while their products are undeniably good quality on both HW and SW sides, I hate their business practices, overpriced products (monitor stand for $1k ?!?!?!?!), and being anti right to repair.

    Epic Games - partially owned by Tencent (a money hungry Chinese company), PC exclusivity deals, anti consumerism

    Elon Musk - nuff said

    Andrej Babiš - a Czech politician who used to be in the communist party back in the day (and denies it), a millionaire, a liar, a thief, and in general piece of shit. I will never buy any products made by companies owned by him (sure, they are not “his” per-se, because they can’t legally be, but I am sure he still profits from them through money laundering).

    Tik Tok - app by the Chinese, with tracking and information gathering throughout, and an ultimate time sink. Stupid trends start there, and it does absolutely nothing for the humanity.

  • pikmeir@kbin.social
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    21
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Boycotting In N Out for being anti-vax and more recently anti mask. Shame because their burgers are pretty good for the prices they charge.