Boycotts

[ajva]

I had a really interesting exchange with Lauren Close today on Marcus's Facebook page. Marcus had posted the link to this wonderful thing on Americablog about the New York Times' report on November 6, 1935 that "German Chancellor Adolf Hitler promised International Olympic Committee (IOC) chairman Count Henry Baillet-Latour that he would take down

Comments

[thekumquat]

I don't know much about effectiveness etc of political boycotts, but I've read a fair bit about large retailers and how they respond to boycotts and other forms of pressure (Nestle, McDonalds etc). Apparently the main value of a boycott in pressure terms is the publicity that goes with it, as the boycott itself is rarely significant enough to effect the bottom line, but if it leads to news items, or media not taking their ads, it counteracts their advertising, has therefore a significant cost, and is more effective. Most effective of all are threats of legislation if voluntary changes aren't made (hence all those Industry Codes of Practice), and receiving well-argued letters cc'd to MPs is therefore taken most seriously