I recently watched this interesting video about a woman that’s boycotting Target due to a political contribution made by the company. According to Game Politics, Target donated $150,000 to MN Forward. Here’s the deal:
The contribution to MN Forward is also being used to run ads for Republican Gubernatorial Tom Emmer, who, according to CBS News, opposes same-sex marriage, angering another whole segment of consumers.
The site also noted that Best Buy contributed $100,000 to MN Forward as well. These are two massive retailers. I’m sure that most of you have purchased games, electronics, etc. at Best Buy and/or Target. Would you still buy games from these stores if they donated to a political cause you oppose? Do your political beliefs outweigh the convenience and prices offered by these companies? I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the matter. (And no, this article wasn’t written to guilt you into buying more from my Amazon links.)
I am probably going to catch crap for this BUT…. I don't have anything to do with politics and honestly I generally don't care. It started when I got married to a Jehovah's Witness. I was then not "allowed" to vote, do jury duty, or celebrate holidays or birthdays and such. At first it bothered me, but now that we are divorced I really haven't taken to doing any of that stuff again. I haven't gotten a jury duty card in 8 years or a voter registration card. Also while I am at it the process of Voting for a President is CRAP. I live in Texas so no matter which way I vote Texas ALWAYS goes Republican, so anyone that tells me my vote matters is full of it. Our secretary at work participates in boycotts of companies that support same sex marriages and anything else she deems homosexual.
Personally I don't care and I will shop wherever I get a good deal.
No. Politics are for the rich or the ones getting rich off it. Also, these companies donate money to further their agendas and not to support/ oppose gay marriage. It's all about getting the bills they want passed or thrown out that matters to them and any other bills passed or thrown out by these politicians don't matter to them. If you boycott these companies, then you need to boycott yourself for every time you vote. There are no perfect candidates.
@gay marriage
It's all about the taxes. If they pass it, it means gay couples will be able to get tax cuts for being married and that takes away from the government's tax revenue. Our politicians have to pay for those 6 million dollar houses some how.
no, i just look for the best deals available.
@slicky
i didn't know that Jehovah's weren't required to vote or register to vote. My friend is a Jehovah but always ribs me for not registering to vote and so forth. so this will be a great comeback for me to have in my arsenal.
I think the biggest issue here is not that these companies have donated to political campaigns or causes, it's that they're allowed to as if they were private citizens.
@Tokz
Yeah they can't have ANY affiliation with the government. At sporting events I was forced to stay seated during the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance.
@Tokz
Also I had to turn down an engineering job because they dealt mainly with government contracts. I also wanted to join the Army for the Corps of Engineers but couldn't. Whenever we got in a voter registration card in back in the day we just wrote Jehovah's Witness on it and mailed it back. So if your buddy does vote it is highly frowned upon and can get him excommunicated. And when they kick you out your own family can't talk to you. My wife was excommunicated when we meant and she had to work for 3 years to get back in.
@slicky
Wow, thanks a lot for the added info. He's been excommunicated many a time already for drinking and gambling. He just got into their good graces again. i can't wait to use my new found knowledge against him.
I don't get involved in politics but that is not to say that I am not aware. I feel that politicians are some of the most childish and irresponsible people on earth with no logic. A great human can admit defeat and know when they are wrong, that is the exact opposite with politics and there for, they can not be great humans in my book. I also agree with nightshade its BS that these corporations can donate money like private citizens. With that said I don't care about political alliances. In fact no one should because we will never agree with the same thing at the same time, do you agree lol?
@Big Blak
No i totally do not agree with your point.
j/k.
@ Tokz
I agree with you with not agreeing with me, agreed?
@BB
Labor unions are allowed to do so as well under that ruling. Neither should be allowed to provide donations or assistance.
@Big Blak
no, i think you're completely wrong. i do not agree with you agreeing with me not agreeing with you. agree?
@SlickyFats Your vote still matters in terms of who is allowed to run and raise money for campaigns.
@ SG
Wow I had no idea, more BS.
@ Tokz
Well I think your wrong and I do agree with you not agreeing with me to agree with you in the first agreement, agreed?
@Big Blak
well i think that you are right about me not agreeing with you and agreeing with me disagreeing with your first statement about people disagreeing. agree?
So I finally watched the video and her way of protesting was indeed strange. Make the purchases, and then do a 180 immediately and return them….but took the time to explain to the store manager why she was returning each individual item. I think this woman has issues.
@smartguy I think she meant well, but could have picked a better way to demonstrate.
i think it would've been better if she would've been out there picketing and voicing her boycott instead of just buying it and returning it, just to let the manager know why she's returning it. The manager of that store isn't going to care or pass that word along. She also should've gotten the local news channel involved that supports the Dem. nomination for Governor. The thought was there but it's wasn't thought out really well.
I assure you that the store manager had nothing to do with the decisions in question, nor does she have any sway with the upper management that did. In the end, this makes a nice internet video, but was an utterly useless demonstration in the actual store.
I thought this was kind of funny since I work at Target (so does my mom, current roommate, and a former roommate). Really I could care less about this type of thing unless it was supporting some kind of genocide. A campaign fund is really just contributing to people and their ideas. Nothing wrong with people having different ideas at all. Since no one is actually physically getting hurt it really doesn't bother me. I also thought it was funny that the lady in the video insisted on talking to the manager and explaining to everyone why she was doing this…in all honesty they probably could care less and were just annoyed that a bunch of returns were being made in to such a big deal.
Nightshade hit the nail on the head.
-"I think the biggest issue here is not that these companies have donated to political campaigns or causes, it’s that they’re allowed to as if they were private citizens."-
*Throws a beer at Nightshade*