#that is why boycotts against products/companies work

[w0lp3rtinger]

When you take all of this together, the lies about immigrants voting, the mass voter challenges, the introduction of new processes to slow down and question vote counts, it seems depressingly likely we are about to see a storm of bullshit just like last time. And there are few things we should probably be ready for. First, unless there is an absolute landslide, we’re unlikely to know the outcome of the election on November 5th, and when it comes to Georgia, if Harris wins narrowly there, we’ll almost certainly see legal battles stretching into December or beyond, and which could eventually end up in front of [the Supreme Court]-... and all the while, Trump will try and exploit any delay or uncertainty, unless that is he wins outright in which case he’ll suddenly insist he triumphed over a rigged system. 

So that is what we can expect. What can we do? 

Well you can, and I hate to say this probably as much as you hate to hearing it, but make a plan to vote and help others do the same since the closer the race is, the easier it will be for Trump to sew bullshit. You should check to make sure you’re voter registration is current [ usa.gov/voting-and-elections ] to find links to your state’s voter registration verification tools, vote early if you can to ensure that if there’s any issue with your registration you can clear it up before election day, and if you vote by mail you can find a tracking tool for your ballot at this website [ vote.org/ballot-tracker-tools ] 

But beyond that, it is going to be vital to be resilient against the storm of toxic nonsense that Trump and his allies will try and stir up. It can go on for months and be stupider than you can even imagine right now. So stupid that someone you know, love, or are related to (and those are three very different things) might even think that there is something to it. 

But the key thing to remember here is that as chaotic as the last election was, in the end, our guardrails did hold. We’re going to need to make sure that they hold up again. And if we can do that, then, and only then, will we all deserve the single greatest sticker ever designed.

-John Oliver, October, 2024 

[pharawee]

Thank you so much for your thorough response. I'm not always good at following production companies. Please ignore this if I'm overstepping, I've already asked for a lot of your time and research, but other than 9naa are there other companies you boycott because of how they treat actors? I know there were some issues with 2moons and I know there were some issues for Saint, though those were long before my time in the fandom.

That's completely understandable. There's so many companies now that do BL - some of them aren't even primarily into entertainment (a skincare company did The Promise, and I think there's at least one car dealership delving into BL things now too, while other companies are purely for investment and why would you even follow those if they're only about money?).

I'm trying to stay up-to-date because I'm interested in the industry side of things but I probably missed a lot of stuff as well.

Here's what I know for sure:

Motive Village

Motive Village did 2Moons. Then they did 2Moons2 with the same characters (and story!) but all different actors. THEN they did 2Moons: The Ambassador with (some of) the same characters (and story) and different actors again.

Why did they do that? Probably because they're so bad at managing their actors that they're all collectively running away as soon as possible. But that's not even the worst part. One of the actors from 2Moons2, Din Teerapat (then known as Earth Teerapat), was actively excluded and blocked from all promotion while being completely trapped in his contract. Other actors weren't paid and were badly mismanaged. Then there's very serious allegations that Din might have been (I'm phrasing this as carefully as possible) harrassed by one of MV's higher-ups. Din never spoke about it and has since decided to move on.

Aam Anusorn, who directed 2Moons2 (and isn't related to MV in any way) has spoken up about this, and his series Call It What You Want is supposedly based on some of what happened.

Other actors who "escaped" MV include Bas Suradej, Copter Panuwat, Kimmon Warudom (who went on to sign with Star Hunter for a while and did the very delightful Gen Y which is basically 2Moons fanfiction), Tae Darvid & Tee Thanapon (who did Triage), Boun Noppanut (who was never with MV but wasn't paid for his guest role in 2Moons), Joong Archen, Pavel Naret, Benjamin Brasier & Dome Woranart. The latest escapee seems to be Park Anandatej who will be in Monster next Door.

Benjamin Brasier and Dome Woranart seem to be back to working with Motive Village recently and I'm honestly a bit ?? ??? about it.

Y.Entertainment

Y.Ent did Unforgotten Night and For Him the Series. Recently, the leads of For Him, Tor Atagorn and Dew Nitikorn (along with Yoon Phusanu who starred in Unforgotten Night and had a cut guest role in For Him), have come forward saying that they were never paid for their work in For Him. Additionally, Tor has opened up about being continuously harrassed and stalked by someone on and off set during filming. It affected him so badly that he is now in therapy and on medication for depression and anxiety.

Just yesterday Yoon Phusanu held a press conference because he still hasn't been paid. He's one of the few actors who actually have the means to hire lawyers and go against his company. His lawyer has stated that not many young actors in Thai BL can afford to do the same.

9NAA

9NAA did Check Out, Venus in the Sky and, most recently, Kiseki Chapter 2. You know about 9NAA already but for everyone else reading this and wanting to know what's going on with them, here's a short summary.

Here's some other companies involved in Thai BL who have done some mildly questionable things:

Maximon who have since rebranded as Harikarn (with another company now named Maximon that might also have been emerged from the original Maximon... it's complicated) might have not paid their actors for Chains of Heart until the series had long finished airing. Haii Sarunsathorn and Boom Raweewit, the leads, made some very carefully worded joke tweets about it - which kind of makes you go hmmmm. There was also a freelancer who spoke up about not getting paid for his art, but nothing more ever came of it. Both Maximon and Harikarn have since ramped up production again - with some of the same actors - so I'm not especially concerned for the moment.

Well.Thailand recently annouced a bunch of new BLs and then promptly went bancrupt. One of their former producers immediately picked up the slack and founded EntSync in order to take over all projects and talent. They've already held the blessing ceremony for Black Forest and everything seems to be back to normal for the moment except for Born to be Y the series which should have aired this month but has since been indefinitely postponed.

Fix Entertainment is behind The Whisperer and is holding the series' final episode hostage because apparently a planned fanmeeting didn't sell enough tickets so they seem to have run out of funds. This is very ?? ???

Studio on Fire recently announced that one of the leads of their upcoming series Live in Love will be replaced, citing creative differences and "different work attitudes" (hate that phrase yet?) as the reason. Weirdly enough, said lead (Non Ratchanon) is from another company and was part of an acting pair with their own actor Hearth Chindanai. Hmmmmmm.*

*This kind of reminds me of what happened with Saint Suppapong during and after Love By Chance when he was basically almost bullied out of the industry because he wasn't with the same company as all of the other actors.

As I said, there's probably more but I didn't include actor scandals, unfounded rumours or stuff that has already been resolved.

[90shaladriel]

AI Manipulations of Rings of Power. (Longish)

Saw the AI edits of Haladriel scenes being altered by GenAI to make the characters* kiss. I have seen chatter about it and the negative implications of creating or interacting with AI generated content.

At the risk of being nuanced, (feel free to block or scroll past this) it interests me what exactly is the concern with it and why. To be clear, I do work in an industry that is both working to incorporate and profit off AIs while simultaneously my own job is increasingly at risk by the same products or we are forced to use them for productivity reasons.

Some reasons that make sense to me that you would not want AI content would be

1. Legal and copyright infringement of the ownership of the art or source material used to train the AI models. Stolen work, no credit or payment to artists

2. It’s generally shitty, sloppy, uncanny valley. Which aesthetically I think most people would be against

3. It directly competes against manual labor of a human, devalues work, replaces jobs, or floods the market so creators never can be separated, investment in a skill or art form isnt worth it.

4. It extremely energy intensive, the environmental implications can he huge with the climate crisis.

5. Its being shoveled in our faces by overhyped tech bros because they think its cool and can find gullible investors for, like NFTs and crypto curriencies

6. Deep fake abuse with AI, making up fake news, abusing a real person image in a degrading way without consent.

I think all of these are serious issues with AI.

The stuff that was shared about Sauron and Galadriel kissing does it materialize those concerns? I’m going to assume that it may for the first one, legal and copyright ownership of training data. Im not a lawyer, and there are also some AI models trained on legally owner content or public domain / open source content. I have no way of knowing what models were used by the GenAI that made those haladriel kisses, so we probably have to assume they may have questionable provenance, and I think by that alone we should boycott those.

Now what if someone used a more solidly vetted model or genAI service without those legal issues? What if the artists do get paid or some form of royalties?

The kiss videos themselves were ok, maybe halfway believable, there were obviously the weird uncanny ai artifacts and stuff. It’s objectively worse than if ROP had actually filmed a kiss with live actors in the show proper. But who am I to judge whether that slop is aesthetically pleasing to someone else or not? Sometimes I have found AI art that is truly bizarre in that this is too weird surrealness quality like looking into a dream while being awake. I’m not sure that this feeling is necessarily wrong to enjoy on its own.

Regarding the AI replacing jobs argument. I suppose it depends what we mean. They were never going to remake ROP Season 1 or 2. Morfydd and Charlie won’t be offered the same role if another company were to buy the rights and make Rings of Power reboot. We will never get those kisses on screen. Maybe you can say that if people were fed content for Haladriel you could give them that almost infinitely by GenAI and then those people would be less likely to consume or pay for some other newer media that might otherwise give a satisfactory ETL with backstory and build up equivalent to what ROP has done with Haladriel? I’m not sure how to weigh that, it might be true? I tend to think these AI kisses arent replacing any creative workers in the film/tv industry. I don’t think we say that fanfic reusing known characters competes with original written stories (or do people argue this?) although i suppose it does on some level. Do people boycott fanfiction?

Along these lines, what about the actors consent and deep fake aspects? Personally, I don’t see how the AI images are more offensive or harmful than fanart which uses the actors depictions to do all sorts of things, stabbing, killing, kissing, screwing and everything and everyone in between. Or fan edits which use clever editing and overlay soundtracks with pointed lyrics which completely change the artistic intent of the actors /creatives who made the original in a particular way, say make two characters have a romantic chemistry that wasn’t there in the original? Or even the old photoshop manipulation stuff? I thought we’re ok with this in the fandom world, is this that different?

I’m not saying I like AI or you need to. I probably wont interact with it and try to avoid it personally wherever I can. But I do wonder if the arguments people are making against ROP AI edits are actually in good faith? Because then i question why other kinds of fan creations are acceptable?

[bandzboy]

as much as things are looking brim right now, i better not see people be defeated and saying we should give up on boycotting and it doesn't work because boycotts take time and there are always a lot wins and set backs along the way no one said it was gonna be easy to get scooter out but saying things like that not only is wrong but it is very counter productive! i know a lot of people are feeling very enraged as you should (so am i let me tell you) but it's important to keep reminding everyone that what we are doing here is bigger than this stupid company. fighting zionism in the music industry is super important and the movement has grown so much! a few months ago there were a few people and it has been growing every day and i want that to give you hope and remind you why we are doing this in the first place: to stand in solidarity with palestinians (especially palestinian fans) and fight against zionism and that should be our main goal ALWAYS! it's normal to feel frustrated i would say it's part of the whole thing that comes with boycotting and fighting something as enormous as zionism but don't spread defeatism i'm begging

[aroaessidhe]

so, the saint martin's press boycott.

I was offline for a few days a week or two ago and during that time SMP made an (okay) statement, R4A deliberated and eventually accepted terms and declared an end to the boycott, people got mad at R4A because the statement wasn't good enough, R4A panicked a bit and basically ended up disbanding/deleting their content. I don't know all the details of everything, but here's some summarised thoughts, since I have been one of the only people posting about the boycott on here:

firstly - I did see SMP's statement and think, eh, it was better than their previous ones, but it was still noticeably very vague on the catalyst of all this (it mentions Islamophobia and Gaza but it's not really centred or as emphatic as it could be) - so I totally understand people being angry that it was seen as good enough. The boycott is because of anti-Palestinian bigotry and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

However, people upset at R4A started claiming that there were no Palestinians/Muslims in R4A, that it was all white people, which are both untrue. There were accusations of sucking up to SMP bc people want arcs/money and typical internet dogpiling and threats, which is... not really productive at all, to say the least, and starts to drown out reasonable criticisms.

Some people (the ones that feel safe enough to come forward, which is not everyone, due to said threats) have come out and discussed exactly why R4A decided to end the boycott. Mari's video here is worth watching - essentially it's that SMP clearly made massive steps to meet the demands, and the ones they didn't they're legally not able to (ie any explicit reference to the employee or what they said would probably get them sued).

A large group of (primarily bipoc) SMP authors have started talking about how they were working behind the scenes to urge SMP to respond - and reiterated that yeah, there's no legal way for them to comment on what the employee said and did.

I think most people understand strikes/boycotts are about negotiation, not necessarily getting every single demand. And it's an immense achievement to get a major publisher to respond and make changes. The way R4A fell apart at the end is pretty disappointing - they genuinely had the platform to make a lot of change going forward, and I hope that the change that was made isn't going to be undone because of that.

It kind of seems like the people who are encouraging continuing to boycott have changed from a marketing boycott in order to bring change to just a 'this company did a bad thing so don't engage with it ever' boycott. Which is valid, but said company has no incentive to meet the demands in that case.

But I also totally understand the opinion that the point of this - racism against Palestinians amidst a genocide - has been pushed to the side. It's extremely reasonable to be angry while watching an ongoing genocide. It's very reasonable to want someone with such despicable views to be fired (even if there's no actionable way to make that happen, and that was never an r4a demand). SMP also hasn't made any kind of statement about the unsolicited sex toys they sent people either, so like....there's that too.

I haven't decided exactly what I'll do - I've only read two SMP books since this started and tbh there's only a handful of other SMP books I'm interested in reading. But I'm considering, if I do decide to post those, donating the cost of a book to a GFM/esim/etc any time I read/review a SMP book. That feels like the most direct thing to bring things back to the point.

[fancyhandsbakery]

No Buying May the Fourth Be With You Sales - Boycott Disney and Marvel

Since it’s coming up, I feel the need to remind everyone to not buy anything this upcoming May 4. I know we are all exited about cheaper Star Wars products, but Star Wars is owned by Disney and its comics are published under Marvel Comics, also owned by Disney. We are actively boycotting both of these corporations for their financial and public support of the illegal occupying force known as Israel, Zionism, and the genocide currently happening against the Palestinians.

Instead of giving money to fund genocide, donate that money to the hundreds of gofundme’s Palestinian families have set up to evacuate them from Gaza. Donate to a organizations like Amnesty International.

Why are we boycotting Disney?: (1st link)

“Disney made an official announcement that it will be pledging $2million and further initiatives to support Israel. Whilst the CEO explicitly condemned attacks on Jews in Israel, he made no mention of the Palestinian people who are being killed by the Israeli military.” -boycott.thewitness.news

Why are we boycotting Marvel Comics?: (2nd link)

There parent company is Disney and Palestinian film and arts organizations call for boycotts of Captain America: New World Order. Why? This movie co stars “Sabra AKA Ruth Bat-Seraph, who “personifies” apartheid Israel, from the 2024 film.” bdsmovement.net. Sabra actively works for Israel’s government and occupation forces. Also look into the actor who is going to play her. The actor makes propaganda for the Israeli government.

I recommend researching this further to be able to convince others not to see this movie. Her history as a character is a violent example of colonialism, racism and propaganda.

Please reblog this and share it in any and all Star Wars spaces.

[ceasarslegion]

Im gonna say something that a lot of online "activists" arent gonna wanna hear or face the reality of, but your little twitblr calls for "boycotts" from top shelf popularity products and media arent doing shit about anything, and in many cases are harming the movement youre claiming to care about.

I put "boycott" in quotes because it's never really a boycott, it's just a plead. Real, actual boycotts imply some level of mass organization, campaigning, advertising, and for the everyday person to be aware of and to want to follow through on. Screaming at random tumblr users for still having netflix accounts is not a fucking boycott. Screaming at the internet void that theyre pieces of shit for pre-ordering pokemon games because of how the devs are treated is not a fucking boycott.

And here's the other part youre not gonna wanna hear but you need to: boycotts, more often than not, don't work even when you can orchestrate an actual boycott. Theyre highly dependent on the context of your fight and that's why you need to LISTEN to the people who are in the real front lines of a demonstration before you just decide for them what they need from their supporters. That's why the WGA didnt tell you to cancel your streaming services or stop going to the movies: boycotting all hollywood work would have HARMED them because they needed tangible proof that the studios need them, which they couldn't do if you suddenly cut off the demand.

And you have to acknowledge that there is a point of wealth and popularity where boycotting does absolutely fuckall in any possible scenario. I'm gonna be honest here and say that I don't think JKR, someone who's BEEN richer than god and wrote the most popular childrens books of the 21st century (which is a FACT that you HAVE TO ACKNOWLEDGE if you want to do anything effective against her. Sorry!) is feeling any loss to her coffers from any sized group of peoples decision to buy or not buy harry potter merch. I know she makes snippy comments on twitter about it, but you guys have got to learn to recognize a troll when you see one and stop fucking feeding it and taking her at her own word.

Just... you GOTTA stop focusing on the symptoms and start acknowledging that the disease exists at all even when it's hard and you don't want to and the things that work are not as much of a glamorous spectacle as it is to just scream at people for the unforgivable crime of purchasing one of the most popular games ever published. Wow im sure that one copy was really felt by the pokemon company and not immediately picked up by the next person who walked into gamestop on release day. Be realistic here.

[anachrosims]

From now on, any posts relating to Gaza or Palestine will be tagged as #free palestine

I have done my best to remain calm, civil, non-reactionary. But the truth is, this IS something I care deeply about and can't bottle up my anger 24/7. Anyone who has known me a while can verify I am not the type of person to just be ~okay~ with suffering and injustice.

The problems I've described re: some folks in our community's responses to Curseforge are not the boycott itself-- they are me being pissed at folks throwing around accusations of, "they're just doing it for extra cash/they don't care about other human lives" when I guarantee you, many of those same people making accusations are still buying other EA products, Starbucks, McDonald's, still working for companies that have ties to Israel and the IDF.

Are you going to quit your jobs? Donate to creators who rely on CF for extra cash for food and medication? Are you going to pillory people who DO leave CF and go back to paywalling on Patreon? Why not call out the big name creators that work with EA? The Mod Squad? Why not call out the top earners on YouTube? Boycott all EA products. Call out the EA Game Changers. Set a clear goal. Why not do that instead of throwing around little passive aggressive lists on Tumblr where no one outside this website will see them?

It's hypocritical and performative as fuck-- and I can't stomach that when thousands of children are suffering and dying, and y'all are out here acting like the moral arbiters that you just aren't. (Note: I have nothing to gain from saying any of this. I am just sick to death of the air of superiority going on, when there's not a boycott against EA, and y'all will still be playing the new Dragon Age when it comes out. Fuck you. Normally I'd keep my mouth shut about things like this, but I can't with a literal g-ddamned genocide happening.)

My point is that, regardless of what jobs we have, where we eat, what games we've purchased since October 7th, we need to focus our energy on targeting the right people--both for our support, and for our boycotting.

I'm not saying another damn word on this. I will return to reblogging fundraisers for people who are worth spending what little energy I have.

[extraaa-30]

PJO, Disney, and Palestine

I'm seeing some nonsense in the PJO fandom rn about how to support Palestine. And, though I'm by no means an expert, I am super super done seeing all the nastiness and bad takes. So I'm gonna try to clear up some confusion.

Long post ahead, bear with me <3

First, let me be real clear: Free Palestine.

I'm not getting into it more than that. You either know already or should know about the ongoing genocide. If you don't know, there are plenty of resources available.

Obviously, we should all be doing everything we can to support Palestine. There are lots of ways to do this. One of those ways is to observe boycotts called for by the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement.

BDS has a policy on Disney. But it does not mean what most of this fandom thinks it means.

Here is the official list of BDS targets as of three days ago (1/17/24):

(source)

You'll notice there are four types of targets. Let's go.

1.) Consumer boycott targets

This is the category most people think of. BDS has asked for a total consumer boycott of these brands. In other words: do not buy from these brands.

[List from image: AXA, Puma, HP, Chevron, Ahava, Carrefour, Caltex, Siemens, RE/MAX, Texaco, SodaStream]

Worth noting: Sabra hummus is also a major part of this list. Not sure why it was left out of the graphic.

Here is more info from BDS about the reasoning for these choices. You'll notice that Disney is not in this target category. Let's move on.

2.) Divestment and exclusion targets

This category is about pressuring governments and institutions to end their dealings with these brands on a large scale.

It's really important to note that BDS is not asking consumers to boycott this category. The best way we can support is to put pressure on our institutions (e.g. local governments, universities).

Obviously, if you personally want to stop buying from these brands, you can! But that is not the ask from BDS right now. That is your personal choice.

[List from image: Elbit Systems, Intel, Chevron, CAF, Barclays, JCB, CAT (Caterpillar Inc.), Volvo, TKH Security, HD Hyundai, Hikvision]

Still don't see Disney, right? Moving on.

3.) Pressure targets

And here we have arrived!

✨✨ This category includes Disney. ✨✨

BDS is asking us to conduct pressure campaigns against these targets.

This can include boycotting ("when reasonable alternatives exist")! It can also include:

lobbying (sending letters, emails, petitions...)

peaceful disruptions (nonviolent direct action, protests)

social media pressure ("hey followers, go sign this petition! go call this number!" "@ slimy corporation, why do you support genocide?")

[List from image: Google, Amazon, Booking.com, Teva, Expedia, AirBnB, Disney]

Again, if you personally want to boycott these brands, go ahead! That is a valid and worthwhile choice that you can make. It's worth noting though that boycotting does not mean just pirating a show on a different platform.

Boycotting is about ending our support as consumers completely.

That means ending subscriptions, canceling accounts. It also means not consuming any products from these companies or their subsidiaries. For Disney that includes Marvel, ABC, ESPN, Pixar, National Geographic, and literally a billion others. For Google, it's not just the search engine but things like Google Docs and YouTube.

As you can imagine, a complete consumer boycott of these brands would be complicated. That is why, strategically, BDS is not asking for that at this time.

It is imperative that the movement to free Palestine is strategic and organized.

The BDS movement has been doing this work for a long time. Following their lead is a good idea. Directing our energy into the actions they recommend is efficient and vital.

I've seen a lot of people in this fandom saying to boycott Disney as if it's a top priority, or even harassing others for continuing to engage with Disney content. That is nonsense and unhelpful.

There is too much to do, urgently, for us to waste time.

That said, let's briefly go over the last category:

4.) Organic boycott targets

These are boycott campaigns that developed independently. While BDS is not diverting official energy towards fighting these brands, it does support the public in that fight.

In other words, don't buy from these brands.

[List from image: McDonald's, Domino's Pizza, Papa John's Pizza, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Wix]

Not listed but worth noting: people are also boycotting Starbucks

In conclusion,

This? Still true.

Just be strategic and informed about it. And don't be an asshole. There is too much work still to do.

[Also, before someone gets on my case about Rick Riordan, I made a whole separate post about it here.]

[cringycorruption]

Hello and welcome to the fourth day of me posting about palestine in support of the strike. today’s conversation is about the boycott list and how they work; and also the importance of targeting the worst offenders and moving down

first off what is boycotting? well google defines it as:

“Withdraw from commercial or social relations with (a country, organisation, or person) as a punishment or protest.”

in other words:

“To stop giving money or spreading the world of a country, organisation or person in a way of protest or punishment.”

what does this have to do with Palestine? Well the BSD has made a list of brands to boycott until a ceasefire is declared, this is the list below

what this post serves to to is to break down these sections, explain what it means and why the brands are there.

before i do that, i will state why it is important to do targeted boycotting rather than generalised boycotting. In my words, the purpose of a boycott is to tell these companies our opinions by smacking them where it hurts, their profits. boycotts have been shown to work.

(starbucks stocks over 6 months. this company is being boycotted due to their unfair treatment of employees.)

but if you dont believe me, believe BDS, this is what they said.

“We must strategically focus on a relatively smaller number of carefully selected companies and products for maximum impact. We need to target companies that play a clear and direct role in Israel’s crimes and where there is real potential for winning, as was the case with, among others, G4S, Veolia, Orange, Ben & Jerry’s and Pillsbury. Compelling large, complicit companies, through strategic and context-sensitive boycott and divestment campaigns, to end their complicity in Israeli apartheid and war crimes against Palestinians sends a very powerful message to hundreds of other complicit companies that “your time will come, so get out before it’s too late!”

“Many of the prohibitively long lists going viral on social media do the exact opposite of this strategic and impactful approach. They include hundreds of companies, many without credible evidence of their connection to Israel’s regime of oppression against Palestinians. Many do not have clear demands to the companies as to what we expect them to do to end the boycott, making them ineffective.”

Now we move on to the sections within the boycott:

Consumer Boycott Targets

This section, the BDS calls for a complete boycott of these companies. This means that you should completely avoid buying from them. This is because of what they have done:

AXA - Refuses to take action against the current conflict and yet was active in supporting Ukraine. It also invests in the war crimes and the stolen Palestinian land

Puma - This is due to its partnership with the Israeli football team, however this one is actually be debated of taking off, and will be removed once the partnership is actually confirmed to be over (go boycotts!)

Carrefour - genocide enabler. It supports the IDF in partaking in the current genocide.

HP - They provide technology for Israeli people and services to the offices of the Israeli Government.

Chevron (+ Caltex and Texaco) - The main company extracting Gas from Israel in the Middle East. They gain billions of dollars from this and puts it towards the conflict, as well as contributing to the climate crisis through fossil fuels.

Re/max - Sells properties on stolen Palestinian land

Ahava - It’s produced in Israel, and its main store is there aswell.

Siemens - the main contractor for connecting Israel’s illegal settlements to EU

Sodastream - it’s an Israeli company that is helping to fund the genocide.

Also make sure to boycott Israeli made products as it will also fund the genocide!

Divestment and exclusion targets

The BDS aims to pressure these groups of people out of contracts with Israel. Please note that these people come from different sources which are in the link.

Elbit systems - It “field-tests” its weapons on palestian people. They also violate refugee and indigenous peoples rights just by doing their job

CAF - build the light rail in Jerusalem. They benefit off of the stolen land.

Barclays - hold 1B pounds in, and 3B pounds of loans that relate back to Israeli machinery

Intel - has stated that they wish to invest $25 Billion dollars into the genocide on Israelis side.

Chevron - (did above)

TKH Security - Provided surveillance equipment to Israel.

HD Hyundai (+ Volvo, CAT, JCB) - Provide machinery for Israel to use in their ethnic cleansing.

HIK Vision - Provide CCTV to be used to survey Palestinian People

Pressure targets

BDS wishes to place pressure onto these people to stop their support of Israel. They aren’t wishing for a full boycott but they do want to have a strong uproar in social media with these groups. This is because

Google ( + Amazon ) - signed a $1.22 billion dollar contract to provide cloud services to Israeli government and military

AirBNB ( + Booking.com and Expedia) - all offer bookings on stolen land

Disney - The New Captain America film personifies Apartheid Israel, and are complicit in speaking up about the conflict.

Tera - benefits off of the conflict as they can exploit the captive Palestinian Market

Organic Boycott Targets

The BDS did not start these boycotts but supports them, this is because:

McDonald’s ( + Dominos Pizza, Papa John’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut, WiX) - Mostly because they have branches in Israel, or have showed support in words or donations. If they are not already active in your area, you dont have to focus on them since it wont be as effective

to summaries:

- Focus on hitting the worst companies the hardest

- your money speaks volumes

- use the BDS guide as a base and add on companies you wish to not support, make sure boycott to you, cause while it may not immediately be affective, once the big companies are listening the smaller will follow

- also support palestinian run businesses

Thank you all for reading this blog post, i hope this was helpful information. reblogs are heavily appreciated

[m1cr0rant]

Boycotting MC

I find this little trend hilarious, at least until it gets to a serious point, kinda. To the point we use actual wars where people sacrificed their lives for whatever cause. I watched this one video where they used the REVOLUTIONARY WAR. yes, the war for FREEDOM against BRITAIN. a MONARCHY. To "invoke" a feeling of war. Rebellion. Whatever you wish to use.

The revolutionary war was a war between Great Britain against the revolt of its colonies leading to the beginning of a new nation called America. So why are we using this war, a war where people on both sides sacrificed their lives for their way of thinking; to boycott a simple, NON-WAR LIKE, video game because they wont add all the Mobs on.

Not only has the mob vote been going on for years now, but its also a way to get feedback from the people, and a way to excite people about the upcoming updates.

Minecraft is updated almost on a 2 month basis. Most being minor, but every year there comes more or less a major update. A lot of games DONT do this.

You paid 26-27 U.S dollars for this game that gets updated more than a game that costed you.. lets say 60 dollars. Thats A PRETTY GOOD FUCKIN DEAL. RIGHT??

They also posted a poster of being like "support your modding community." You boycotting against the modders of mohjang is 1. not supporting. 2. If you wish to support modders, play mods, promote the modder, make videos, tell epople tp subscribe to them. Thats supporting. Boycotting ?? is no where near supporting.

Along with it uses multiple american references. Idk that just seems unsettling to me. A game where people of all shapes, sizes, colours, come to play. And youre using a like.. weird way to get these people to boycott a silly game.

LETS TALK MOHJANG!!

Yes, a modder made a mod of the upcoming characters in the mobvote the crab in just under 16 hours. Woahhhh. They have the time to do that.

Mojang devs and creators are paid. To them this is a job. Yes a job they may like. BUT a job. Which means there are job hours. I do not know about you but me personally? Id rather not work overtime.

Mojang devs are not being lazy, they are working on their own time. They are people just like us. They have lives. Some may get sick, some may have wife and children. JUST BECAUSE they are not working up to speed, like modders do in THEIR FREETIME, does not mean they are lazy.

These updates go into the OFFICIAL game. They have to make sure they do not break or damage the original software. Also its the mob vote, sure is one of the bigger updates, but its also in a series of updates. More things are added than just a mob. Ask modders how long it took them to mod an entire biome, an entire mob series, how long it took to take designs, the small details. A while, right? Now put that into an official game.

PEOPLE THIS IS AN ACTUAL. RUNNING. COMPANY. This means, that they are not just in charge of the game, theyre in charge of trades, all products. the lego products, the plush products, weird toy products. They are in charge of overseeing their revenue, and so many more things. MODDERS. dont typically have to do this.

Board meetings are gonna come and go. Thats when ideas come in. Remember that these devs are probably high-ranking people.

They are not modders, modding in their freetime. This is a job. A company.

Stop calling the devs lazy.

Stop using actual wars to invoke a feeling of "revolt".

Bro. just stop. Using actual wars is like.. sm disrespect????

IDK i need people's opinions on this. Im going CRAZY. the fact is i could go more into depth. Im so tempted to make a analysis type video on all of this just to like?? idk. Someone like help.

[turtledovenycx]

This post is in no way created to target or promote hatred towards Stray Kids, Other K-pop groups, or their agencies. It is to raise awareness and share my opinion.

Let's talk about the "K-wave" Coca-Cola x K-pop campaign. The fact that Stray Kids is one of the faces of it bothers me a lot. I haven't been online much so I didn't know about this till a few hours ago.

It's been four months since I have been boycotting (as much as I can) major food, fashion, and skincare companies that fund and aid the Genocide of the Palestinian people and will be continuing to do so.

I've been supporting Stray Kids for almost three years now and though I love them. I will not stand by this decision to advertise this campaign.

I am against them or any other idol endorsing the Coca-Cola brand.

The increase in Brands on Boycott reaching forward to Idols trying to get them to advertise, use, or be photographed with their products should be concerning. Big agencies like JYPE should have a political stand and try to at least do/show what's right. Unfortunately, this is not a utopian world and at the end of the day, they have to do what major investors and bosses want.

Saying that however we also have to understand that they lack the freedom of choice. Let me be clear I do not hate Stray Kids. I will also not stand by the statement that they support genocide and I'll explain why. Throughout the years the members have secretly and non-secretly shown us how each of them is involved in charitable and humanitarian organizations that help humans and animals, and I applaud that. They are good people with enough knowledge and a conscious. There is no room for doubt there. Idols are trained to not be involved in controversies. They are not allowed to show support for either side and sometimes this backfires. Like how they have to do ads for companies that may be directly or indirectly in said controversies.

Now, the reason: Stray Kids and all other idols work on contracts and once signed they are indebted to their agencies or labels to get the work done. Now, of course, they can say no. But with the system by refusing they are liable to huge financial losses which could land them in debt or worse Hiatus/Termination of their contracts.

I am a Stay, I will always be a Stay. I have so much to be thankful for to Stray Kids but just because they are my favorite idols does not mean I will support all of their content blindly. And neither should you. They might not be able to express their choice but we can.

So for now I've decided I will not be viewing or engaging in any content released by them as a part of this campaign (like the JYPE family M/V) or any advertisements that involve big fashion/ non-fashion brands on the boycott list. I encourage you not to spend money on merchandise and albums that put money directly in the pockets of record labels and Agencies.

I like to believe that they are not completely oblivious to what is happening in the world no matter how much the mainstream media try to cover it up. I sincerely hope whatever money they get from this campaign is used well for humanity.

Boycott Coca-Cola. Boycott brands that support the Genocide.

FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸

(if my post has any mistakes or any incorrect information I'm open to constructive criticism as I am still trying to educate myself more on current affairs right now. I hope my point was clear. I love Stray Kids and Their music and I will continue to love them. I do not support this particular campaign. That's it)

Please take everything I said in a positive light. I do not want a wave of hate from strangers for me.

We are all Humans trying to do what's right.

[orc-apologist]

The thing is that the boycotts are not going to do anything. There are various reasons for boycotts, the way people do them today, not working.

First and most importantly, it places the pressure on the wrong people, which is the consumer. As much as people like to think so, the consumer has next to no power over his own consumption. We all need things, we all have different budgets, and we all different venues available to us. If people said to boycott Walmart for example, how would someone from Backwoods, Texas where there's no other grocery store for miles do that exactly?

Second, it is actively harmful because it placates people. Those who have the ability to choose their own consumption so thoroughly will rest on the laurel of not buying McDonald's, as if that is actually going to change anything. We can't do this through the choices of the individual. This has to be collective. Not only do you have to organize people, you would have to give them alternatives. Feed them, supply them with clothing, etc, everything they can no longer reliably get because of the boycott. Even then, i genuinely do not think it would work. Besides, now I'm just describing a strike, which would be way more efficient.

Third, why do we need to continue to pay for the crimes of the rich? That's it, just a simple question.

Fourth, in Keynesian politics, low sales do not hurt big companies. They are so thoroughly protected by the state that they will always be bailed out.

There is another way, though, and it's... well, I'd like to say it's simple but it's actually quite a lot of work. That work is organizing for socialism. True, genuine socialism. Worker's control of the state and of all means of production. If we claim that power we will truly have the power to shape the flow of money. That is how we get out of the war machine.

We organize with the working class. We urge them to strike. We give them programs to work towards, together. That is how we change society, by raising the working class to the ruling class of society. Because when we control the means of production, we will have choice over who gets weapons, who gets money.

In short, we will be able to disarm the Israeli state, while empowering its working class to rise up against their oppressors. Those who lie to them, use the millennias of crimes committed against the Jewish people to drive them into a racist frenzy, which turns them into a docile working class, eager to be exploited by them - fight for them even.

THAT is how we liberate Palestine. Sounds utopian? Perhaps at the moment, when Gaza is being razed to the ground, but socialism is a science. In can and will work, but it needs organized people working towards it, educating themselves and acting together to mobilize the working class against the rich owners of capital towards a socialist and eventually communist future. A classless future where poor and rich, apartheid and racism, war and genocide and all the other despicable things that come with a class society are a thing of the past.

Sound good? Are you a communist? Then get organized!

[colorisbyshe]

right but piracy does not inherently spread word of mouth (i only vaguely know what loona is so not even specifically about that, just generally), it only encourages others to check out that thing if you actually talk about the fact that you pirated it. and even then the same principle applies if you talk about the fact that you watched/listened to it legally

Yes. And also no.

Searching is also engagement. You know how we laugh at posts about how “google searches for X spiked after Y Event,” yeah… companies know that shit too. Searching for content is a form of engagement.

And I’m gonna be honest, if you have so little self control you can’t even keep yourself from listening to a song performed by a group you supposedly like, knowing the song was against their wishes… I don’t doubt you’re also watching the performances (giving them views, propelling them in algorithm), still following twitters, etc..

Do I think in a broader sense, there is a way for piracy to lessen the harm? Sure, I can come up with instances where there’s no material impact. I can even name instances where legally purchasing “problematic” goods will have negligible impact.

But in the midst of a boycott, where you are literally agreeing that not only is the content “problematic” (which could perhaps imply that critical engagement is possible, ie “i’m aware of the flaws and am against them but find it having enough valuable to still work with that”) but rather so egregious you’re supporting collective effort to completely knee cap it… why are you jumping through so many hoops to still engage with it?

Why do you want to derive enjoyment from a song that made a dozen women fucking miserable?

Where is your moral backbone?

Like, I get it, we all have different moral lines and imperfections. I won’t claim to be only consuming morally perfect content. There are lines I will and won’t cross and they might not be everyone else’s lines. That’s more or less fine. Or maybe not fine but just how people work as flawed beings.

But what the fuck is the point of claiming you’re pro-boycott if you’re waiting on someone to legally purchase and then upload it for you?

That’s not a boycott.

That is performativity and selfishness masked as “haha fuck corporate, I still get to worship their products but this time for free!!!”

You can’t say fuck BBC and then eat regurgitated worms out their mouth like some bird brained idiot. You just can’t.

[alarrytale]

Regarding the McDonald's thing, the issue is that it's useless tiktok activism centering Westerners who wish to feel like they're helping rather than people who actually need help. People are congratulating themselves for somewhat impacting a fast food restaurant which has nothing to do with anything when they could be donating or writing their local politicians. And it is sadly one or the other because the average person isn't going to do more than a few small actions. I know you talk about Louis' image often so I rate you for openly saying it's about how this will be perceived, but on Xitter and Tiktok they insist it's about being disappointed in him and holding him accountable, and then when the facts are raised (that the boycott isn't actually doing anything) and their opinion doesn't change, it becomes clear that it's actually about how well they can promote him and defend him against H*rries and locals. Certain solo fans were absolutely loving holding this issue over H fan's heads and are simply disappointed they no longer have that card to play, and the whole thing is just really distasteful.

Hi, again anon!

Why is tiktok activism useless? I think tiktok is helping to spread information about the atrocities happening in Gaza to a group of people who otherwise wouldn't know, because they don't read or watch the news. It has a far reach and engages young people who were formerly apolitical and makes them aware, engaged and wanting to help. They are are also learning what to do to help out. It's centering westeners because Israel and Gaza is in Europe. There is war happening in Europe, so it's particularly relevant to europeans and westeners. I don't know what you mean by "westerners who wish to feel like they're helping rather than actually people who need help".

Like i said in the previous ask, not everyone is in a position to help out monitarily. Some live in countries with corrupt politicians or some have governments already helping. People will never feel like what they're doing is good enough when there is children dying. I also am pretty sure that if you're one of the people who has donated to Gaza, you won't go to a McDonalds for a meal afterwards if you're aware of the brand's involvement in the conflict. You absolutely can donate and avoid McD at the same time. You can also not buy a Sod* Str*am or other isr*elian products as long as you're aware of what to avoid buying.

Also, lesson learned for McDonalds is that your brand and reputation will suffer if you support genocide. Even if it's just one branch out of thousands doing it, it will hurt the brand as a whole. This is also lesson learned for other brands. So this might have prevented other brands from supporting I*rael. At least where i live, i see brands pulling out of deals and companies cut connections to Isr*ael everyday. Tiktok activism does help. Singning petitions helps, voting helps. Even if all you can do is spread the word, it helps. Everything helps. So do what you can to help. If the only thing you can do is avoiding McDonalds and telling others to do the same and explain to them why, then that helps too.

I still very much disagree with you that the boycott isn't helping. It is, both as a "see what happens when you support genocide" statement and as a warning to other brands to not do the same. The politicians do notice the opinions of the masses. And tiktok is an opinion forming place where you can influence and reach the masses. I happen to think that tiktok activism is more helpful than you picking up the phone and calling your representative. The threshold for a 14 year old girl to call a 60 year old man and lecture him in politics is also high. If the alternative is nothing or doing something, then do something. Boycotting works.

Fans are allowed to be disappointed in Louis. He's obviously not paying attention to world politics, discourses or public opinion. That's disappointing in itself. His ignorance is currently hurting his own brand and reputation. People aren’t happy with him. And again, i disagree that the boycott isn't helping (it is!). So when people are holding him accountable it's valid. He's promoting a brand currently feeding I*f soldiers while the children of Gaza is starving. He needs to be aware of it to protect his own brand. I'm pretty sure if he was aware he wouldn't do it.

[xenosagaepisodeone]

hey adrienne not to make things weird but I had a dream you were in last night where we were hanging out on a very large couch watching a show that consisted of two people with these stark white masks just talking to eachother back and forth across this weird divider (?) in the middle. and they were having this really animated conversation about the ethics of something or other and you were kind of scoffing about it and providing commentary about what a dumb show this was and how the conversation was stressing you out. and then it transitioned into this strange scene where it was clearly some time later and I had my head in your lap and you were stroking my hair but in a very stress ball kind of way. and you were still making commentary about the show (which was still ongoing on the tv) but it was very pleasant all around for me. anyways what are we haha

so we all think it's odd that MGS4 is imprisoned in the PS3 right? I think the fact it's so product placement heavy is why its difficult to bring over to newer consoles. it's far from my favorite metal gear for a lot of reason, but i wouldn't object to it getting a remake. It actually works both thematically and metatextually if Kojima isnt involved! in a world where 'truth' is mere piecemeal for consolidating power, what would become of a MGS4 remake that is....passable? that is good (from a gameplay perspective)? that receives partial rewrites to strengthen parts of the story that most people were confounded by even in 2008? most would still reject it, recognizing it as bad from an ontological standpoint due to konami's cruel treatment of kojima. any flaws would be made Memetic, the (inevitable lbr) mistreatment of any involved voice actors of the project from either konami or mgs fans would be brought into focus, and it's existence would be seen as a testament to the decayed moral architecture that consists Konami as a company. the generally understood sentiment regarding why MGS4 even exists however is that a combination of managerial and fan pressure (infamously via death threats) pushed Kojima to continue Snake's story; its why everyone's arcs reach such a placid finality. MGS2's ambiguities are wiped away to cudgel the player with "truth". Snake is dying, and that makes you sad, but its his Last Stand, which makes it epic. Meryl has a stupid wedding. Snake vs Liquid rivalry is resurrected then killed solely to give the story some legs despite Liquid not really being relevant anymore. Raiden gets jerked around by the system one last time before settling down with Rose and his ugly kid (until Rising fixes this). Vamp is here for some reason. Big Boss is here For Some Reason (❗️) and him and Snake hug (instead of being excecuted alongside Otacon like Kojima had originally wanted until his staff told him he was being a real downer) - because it's the narrative giving a conclusive happiness to the cast, which you want to see as a fan. I'm not saying that MGS4 is some soulless venture (it has stuff I Liked), or that writers and directors are justified as being treated as interchangeable if the end Product is sufficient in some respect, but what does it mean to defend MGS4, this conglomerate of fanservice, as an artistic vision?

its meta because getting involved in any extended discussion about the remake is a zero sum game. point blank. The Patriots have you. It's too late. if the B&B Corps dont gyrate all sexy to you anymore in the remake, there is no in-between option on how you are allowed to feel about it on a public online forum. nuance is ceding to ideology, and gamers are locked in a forever war against a corporation they can't even boycott. And much like in MGS2, the Raiden option would be logging off