I recently received an email addressed to a group of muslims telling us not to drink Coke, eat Big Macs or use Johnson & Johnson products together with a list of many other “American” products. It called on the Muslims to boycott these products to help their fellow Muslims in Gaza.
As far as the conflict in Gaza goes, I agree that the Isreali action is clearly inhumane and should be stopped. This is not in doubt and even the western media and some Jews have condemned the military action in Gaza. What I do question is the efficacy of a boycott on Coke, Big Macs and J&J baby shampoo. For the first time in a long time I clicked on the “reply all” button and questioned whether a boycott would actually do anything at all.
I received a lot of pictures about the atrocities in Gaza and how as a Muslim I needed to strengthen myself. To clarify matters, I don’t question that what is going in Gaza is atrocious and despicable. What I do question is the effect of a boycott.
Let’s assume that our hypothetical entrepreneur, Ali, has saved up and finally paid for a Starbucks franchise in Malaysia. He then hires 20 people to work in this franchise. As a result of the franchise, the local bakery gets more business and Abu, the owner hires 2 more staff. If Starbucks faces a boycott, Ali may have to close down and retrench his staff of 20. Abu, the local bakery owner may have to retrench his 2 additional staff. Are these people responsible for what is going on in Gaza?
For those of you who send emails on they boycott, please think of the people who will be harmed. Think about the effect of your actions on the Ali’s and Abu’s and their staff. More importantly, think of the children of Ali and Abu’s staff.
3 Responses to “Boycotting Coke, McDonalds and Johnson & Johnson products”
For me, the boycott is important and every muslim who already work in this company, coke, mc donalds and jnj, hope will find company in the same industry to work. Now days we have a lot product of coke in market, not only produce by Coca cola. We have mecca cola, radix cola ( made in malaysia) and many coke product produce by small medium enterprise.same as Mcd, we also have Ramly Burger. and 1901. Just tell you self, if you want to boycott or not….
Like you said very eloquently in your post, consumer boycotts are largely ineffective. If they hurt anyone at all, it’s the employees.
If your intention is truly to help the Palestinians, donate money to humanitarian efforts like Doctors without Borders, grant a microloan to entrepreneurs in the West Bank and Gaza through an organization like Lend for Peace (http://www.lendforpeace.org/), lobby other Arab countries like Jordan to grant them citizenship and get them out of those refugee camps where they’re living in inhumane conditions (Israel is not the only culprit). Fight against Islamic radicalism and terrorism domestically and abroad, because those forces are every bit as guilty in giving Islam a bad reputation and justifying violence against innocents.
If someone was to boycott “American” products, then go all-out, don’t be half-hearted about it. Boycott Windows, boycott everything that has to do with using a computer and Internet like all your free email accounts (Yahoo, Gmail, etc), boycott Facebook, etc. I mean why stop at Coke and Starbucks?