Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Keeping My Buycotts Straight
Apparently, I’m going to need to go out and buy some Ben & Jerry’s “Hubby Hubby."* But I’ll be doing it from Whole Foods,** if possible.
As a sidenote, does it bug anyone else that the most logical category for a discussion of my food choices ends up being in “politics?” If you were to say that it’s a sign of our society and our lives being over-politicized, I wouldn’t disagree. Luckily, I’m watching a special edition of So You Think You Can Dance’s best moments and enjoying it immensely. Not only is it not political (well, almost entirely apolitical), but I’ve come to believe that of all of the reality shows and various contests on TV, So You Think You Can Dance has the best talent of the bunch.
Of course, I don’t know much about dance, so I could be completely wrong on the subject…
*No, this isn’t just an excuse to eat Ben & Jerry’s. If that were the case, then I would be grabbing a pint of Mint Chocolate Cookie, which is their most awesome ice cream ever. It just doesn’t lend itself to an easy celebration of same sex unions, does it?
** Yes, I know I missed the official buycott moment. But I’m pretty sure they’ll be happy to take my money, anyway.
Comments & Trackbacks
Well, the packaging is certainly apropos.
I only rarely go to Whole Foods, which some of my friends refer to as “Whole Paycheck”. They do have some things I can’t find anywhere else locally.
And, only because it just came up in my random shuffle, wouldn’t it be great to bring The Raspberries forward in time just for long enough to have them record “Go All the Way” in a modern studio? AFAICT, the only recording extant of that is just terrible—good enough for AM. (Relevance: I’m sure Ben & Jerry’s makes a raspberry flavored ice cream.)
First and foremost, yes. I love that song. And, yes, you’re right, the only recording that I’ve ever heard isn’t as good as you would expect. Kind of weird since the song had a sound that would have loved great production. Of course, bookend “Go All the Way” (which just sounds desperate if you say it instead of singing it) with “All by Myself” and you’ll probably find yourself on the receiving end of an invitation to a more personalized celebration of “Hubby Hubby.” If you know what I mean.
Yeah, I try to buy most of my stuff at normal stores, but Whole Foods carries some things that no one else carries. Like this ridiculously good Greek yogurt that is far superior to the stuff that my wife buys for herself.
Just sayin’.
Are we sure that was The Telegraph and not The Onion?
I find both Ben & Jerry’s and Whole Foods both overpriced and annoying. This is so even when I agree with the most recent political positions they are taking (as now, mostly).
For me at least (and on this I think I’m not atypical), you can lose my business with politics, but it’s quite a bit harder to get my business with politics. As an example, I sometimes buy games from Multi Man Publishing (Advanced Squad Leader, among other titles). If I were offended by Curt Schilling’s politics (or his baseball blog, or whatever), I might be less likely to buy the games. But agreeing with many of his positions does not increase my purchases.
This leads to a fairly fundamental point, I think: If your business isn’t politics, there’s not much upside to injecting politics in your business.
Yeah, my reaction was the opposite of yours, Z:
I’m never going to buy/eat Ben and Jerry’s again. And a good part of it is I intend to punish any company that injects politics and moral judgments into politically- and morally-neutral products.
Luckily for me, that pretty much only includes liberal political/moral judgments.
It won’t make any difference, since I don’t think I’ve ever purchased or eaten Ben and Jerry’s before in my life (Bluebell fan). But it makes me feel good.