Should we boycott certain brands?

Yesterday, I was listening to France Inter (yes, it does happen, you see, that I’m a bit intelligent sometimes, but it’s still rare, let’s not lie to ourselves) and the show was about boycotting brands.

I have to tell you that I unconsciously practice it a bit. I practice it for clothes, but we already know that, and also for food.

The question I ask myself is: Does it work?

Will saying "I'm not buying this brand anymore because I'm completely against it" change things? Sometimes I believe it will because I am truly utopian and that's my problem, so sometimes I think "why not?". Yes, why not, if there are enough of us, the brand might realize that IT'S BAD and change. Yeah, I'm often naive.

To talk about a topic that really annoys me, it's the Rana Plaza disaster. Yesterday I learned (because I'm back from vacation) that Auchan was finally going to compensate the victims. It's important to know that the Collectif sur l'Etiquette did a good job by calling for a boycott of Auchan, but especially by lambasting them everywhere on social networks. But the silly question I ask myself is why did they wait a year and a half when everyone knew Auchan was manufacturing there. Why not say "yes, okay, we did some bad stuff, but we're going to make up for it?" No, instead they continued on their merry way, quietly. I really like what happened on Facebook; it reminds me that ultimately we are all a bit of "consum'actors" (I hate that word but it perfectly summarizes the situation nonetheless). It's really about becoming aware that there's a problem and trying to do something about it.

(Photo Credit Collectif sur l'Etiquette)

Personally, I'm not really an activist on social networks; I often give my opinion here and there, but I never get deeply involved. The only thing I did, because it amused me, was to post poop emojis on Monsanto's page about a year ago following an international appeal. Because Monsanto is evil too. The real, true evil. The insidious, ever-present evil. The question is, did it change things? I don't think so much, but it pleases me to believe that maybe it did.

However, high up in the boycott call game, I remember Greenpeace's video against Nestlé. I still believe today that I hadn't seen such a clear message. And even today, I don't eat Kit Kats anymore. The message was incredibly impactful for me. The video is quite violent, but the message is truly very clear.

However, if you're hesitant or want to become more aware of which brands to buy, there's a smartphone app called BuyCott. I'm not really into buying apps on my phone (because I'm probably old, we know that), but I find the approach quite interesting if you're a bit concerned about your consumption habits.