Consumer Responsibility

Disclaimer: I am well aware this article perhaps will come off wide-eyed and optimistic, but we have to start somewhere. Please leave your jaded view at the door and proceed lightly.

I have been told more than once in the past month that I shouldn’t shop at certain stores, or spend my money at some restaurants because of that corporation’s funding. First it was when Target Corporation, financially backed an outwardly anti-gay politician. Now Chick-fil-A is sponsoring an event to take place in February. This event, The Art of Marriage Conference, hosted by the Pennsylvania Family Institute is followed by the tag line “getting to the heart of God’s design.” You can imagine that God’s design, according to this group—and apparently Chick-fil-A—is limited to heterosexual love only.

So where do these corporations come off spending all their money on these politically sensitive issues? And where does that leave us, as the consumers?

Everyone has their agenda, and the owners of these large multinational corporations are no exception to this rule, they simply have more power (money) to push their agenda further than the average person who ultimately gives them their money. Corporate donations are nothing new and as politics follows the money, the corporations gain that monetary power on the political or social scene.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, (I suppose it depends what side you are on and where the money is going) they can spend their money wherever they want. This IS America. And like any 5 year old will tell you, “It’s a free country.” (Oh, hang on a minute: I guess “Gods design” in this case, means we can only love someone of the opposite sex…okay, great, just checking… Thanks Chick-fil-A for the memo) But, as I was saying, if you have money, it’s a free (er) country, and we can spend the money where we choose.

Ah, now we are getting somewhere. We too, as consumers, can spend the money where we choose! That means if we don’t agree with where that money will eventually end up, then we should not spend our money there. If we don’t agree with the principles or values or what have you, then that company doesn’t need to get a dime from our pockets.

That leads us to the hard part. How do we know if we agree or not with the company? How do we know where the funding ends up? Well, Research! (There’s a great thing called the Internet…) I should also note that, yes, I am aware that some arms reach further than others and own brands that are not the obvious. (Did you know that Chipotle, the local, fresh, “healthy”, burrito joint was owned by McDonalds, the greasy, fattening, fast food, giant chain of the world?) But, on the bright side, as I stated before this IS America, and guess what? We have LOTS of options.

Some freedoms we can still hold onto, if only by our fingertips, we can choose to not shop at Target. We can choose to go to the local chicken joint a bit further down the road, rather than the convenient Chick-fil-A if we don’t agree with the preaching Pennsylvania group. Or in fact, we could forget chicken altogether and go for a veggie burger. My point is, using the information we know, as consumers we can have the last say (or first input, depending on how you look at it) in these matters. We can decide if we want to financially support the end cause of these multi-nationals. Please keep that in mind. We lose our position to complain if we continue to support. We maintain the ability to choose. Choose wisely.