Consumer Action Network -- h o m e

Links to consumer action sites

INTRODUCTION

The most politically independent source of power for social progressivism is in the organization of consumer choices. Recent developments in consumer mobilization in response to Texaco's fiasco suggest that the US is ripe for massive organization in this respect. Yet most of the US is not prepared to give up many types of products on a continual basis.
This is a solvable short-coming. I propose a national consumer organization which would maintain a list of product categories, production practices and other corporate activities to which its members object. The organization then initiates TEMPORARY boycotts RANDOMLY and or STRATEGICALLY, for two or three week periods (or for whatever period would be necessary to spoil inventories or cost retailers sufficient money) on any products or companies that are on the list. For instance, say Pepsico exploits forced labor in Burma. The consumer group may or may not boycott, but if it has a large enough membership, the mere prospect of boycott would be a big enough threat to individual Taco Bell franchizes (licensed and supplied by Pepsico) that, fearing their inventories of frozen chicken, 'fresh' produce, and other perishable foods will spoil, they would pressure Pepsi for a more acceptable source of labor. The boycott would only have to be a few weeks or months before FDA regulations required Taco Bells to throw away their inventories at huge losses. The consumer organization would only boycott one thing at a time, but would control markets for hundreds of goods by the mere threat that next week, the target-good might change.
With products like pesticide-covered produce, boycotts could be as short as one week and still be dramatically effective. No supermarket produce manager would purchase a shipment of highly perishable strawberries under the threat of the massive boycott. Tell me if you like this idea and/or want me to include you on a CAN mailing list. This project requires masses of participants to be effective. Please help me grow it.
Some links to other consumer-action sites