Boycott of One

I don’t think boycotts are terribly effective most of the time, especially when it comes to restaurants. There are plenty of places I don’t frequent because I don’t like the food, or I don’t like the location. It’s not a big crusade. There’s one place I don’t eat at, and haven’t visited for years. They are still there, and still by all accounts doing fine.

In some ways, the restaurant doesn’t care why I’m not coming, and as long as they have enough other customers to pay the bills, they really don’t need me there anyway.
So we try to get all our friends to stay away from the same place to increase the impact. I respect that a ton. Anyone who is willing to take a stand that costs them something, even if it’s just a chicken sandwich, earns my respect, even if I don’t agree with the particular reason they are boycotting whatever chain is the target of their anger.

There is one place that  I won’t go under any circumstances and that’s Hardees. The reason is the commercials they use to sell their product. Look I know sex sells, but this is over the line. I know it’s a subjective line, but I get to determine where my line is, and their commercials are over it. I mean, it’s a freaking hamburger, for goodness sakes. The commercials openly objectify women, and in doing so, show a deep disrespect for women. As a husband, and a father of a beautiful little girl, I won’t support that.

I wonder why people, especially people who are passionate about the way women are portrayed in media, aren’t making a bigger deal of these commercials, or maybe they are, and I’m just not tuned into the right blogs, tweets, and shows.

And if the commercials aren’t enough for you, Hardees also gets poor grades for the nutritional value of its menu from Eat This! Not That! Their food is loaded with calories, fats, and other things that aren’t good for you.

It’s clear that Hardees demographic is young males who feel invincible, and equally clear that I’m not their core demographic.