So few companies, so much stuff.

[brianlux]

I'm happy to say I don't buy much stuff from these companies but it's nice to have the list handy to avoid them even further:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/2 ... lp00000008

"These 10 Companies Control Enormous Number Of Consumer Brands

It may be obvious that Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes are both made by Kellogg's, but did you know that Hot Pockets and L'Oreal share a parent company in Nestlé?

A ginormous number of brands are controlled by just 10 multinationals, according to this amazing infographic from French blog Convergence Alimentaire. Now we can see just how many products are owned by Kraft, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kellogg's, Mars, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, P&G and Nestlé.

(Disclaimer: We are not sure how up-to-date the graphic is. For example, it has not been updated to reflect P&G's sale of Pringles to Kellogg's in February.)

It's not just the consumer goods industry that's become so consolidated. Ninety percent of the media is now controlled by just six companies, down from 50 in 1983, according to a Frugal Dad infographic from last year. Likewise, 37 banks merged to become JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and CitiGroup in a little over two decades, as seen in this 2010 graphic from Mother Jones.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this post misidentified General Mills as the parent company of Corn Flakes and Frosted Flakes.

See what the 10 companies own in the infographic below:"

SEE LINK ABOVE

[curlygirly9]

I'm with you there. And I try my damnedest not to buy animal tested products, so I already try to avoid most of those brands

[chadwick]

looks like i have to add a few more to my no buy list.

no go with me:
coca cola
nestle
and kraft

i don't buy anything coca cola because of how they treat folks in india and central and south america. i read years ago where coca cola company will not allow folks of india to catch and bottle rain water due to coca cola wanting their money for water. i also read where coca cola company has murdered over water in central and south america.

nestle is pumping the great lakes dry. fuck nestle. i saw the video and was not impressed in the least. nestle is french owned. good. get your shit and get the fuck out of here... that's what i think.

phillip morris = kraft
that is scary huge money and they do not need my pennies
i'm done with them fuckers too
i'd rather have generic and or some organic salad dressing
kraft can suck it! as can phillip morris

[curlygirly9]

Yeah, my biggest no no is proctor and gamble; they can super-suck it

[riotgrl]

I also avoid Hershey or really any company that uses chocolate as much of our chocolate comes from places like West Africa which utilizes child slavery. I eat Green and Black chocolate which is fair trade

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-robb ... 37737.html

And check out this cool map about chocolate:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog ... -world-map

[brianlux]

I also avoid Hershey or really any company that uses chocolate as much of our chocolate comes from places like West Africa which utilizes child slavery. I eat Green and Black chocolate which is fair trade

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-robb ... 37737.html

And check out this cool map about chocolate:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog ... -world-map

Great links, riotgrl, thanks!

I have a sentimental thing about Hershey's because when I was a kid and we visited my Grandma in PA she used to take us on the factory tours when you could actually tour the real factory. No more tours and, for me I'm afraid, no more Hersheys.

[DriftingByTheStorm]

yeah.
so much SHIT.


i'll be honest ... i'll buy whatever it is i need\want from whomever has the best product at the best price.
i'm not some sort of brand purist, and i don't take out my political complaints on corporations.

i'd actually like to hear from some of the people who have posted on this thread their explanations for WHY they avoid certain companies (ie. proctor & gamble, coca-cola, hershey, are three i have seen war-cries against here) ...

My girlfriend and I primarily shop at Kroger, and we almost universally choose their "generic" or store brand version of ALMOST EVERYTHING. But not just on price ... we check the labels to make sure there isn't a bunch of SHIT in the products as well.

In the case of ALMOST EVERYTHING on that corporate brand chart, they are ALL filled with SHIT. I tend to avoid these products, NOT because of their corporate owners, but because the products either outright suck (bad ingredients) or are simply overpriced versus other brands.

EXAMPLE OF MY PURCHASING LOGIC:

Cereal: We buy Kroger brand. It's half the cost, and doesn't contain partially hydrogenated anything.

Toilet Paper: Which ever 2-Ply brand is on sale at best cost \ unit. No brand loyalty.

Worcestershire Sauce: I actually prefer to go over to Food Lion for this. I won't pay $5 a bottle for LeaPerrins, and the Kroger brand has "shit" (high fructose corn syrup, etc) in it. Food Lion has identical ingredients to Lea Perrins (real anchovies, tamarind, garlic, vinegar) for over 50% cheaper.

WE SHOP AT WAL-MART TOO:
Eggs: Kroger has cheap "cage free" eggs for about $2.35 a dozen. But WAL-MART has FREE RANGE eggs for $2.90 a dozen. I'd rather pay 50cents more and give the chickens some room to run, as well.

Peanut Butter: Shit has gotten ungodly expensive. Wal-Mart has an All-Natural (no hydrogenated crap) store brand ("Great Value") creamy, no-stir peanut butter at a great price.

Laundry Detergent: This one is interesting. We use Earth Friendly Products "Eco Free and Clear" detergent for our laundry. I can get it at Kroger, but it is $13 for a 100-load container. WAL-MART has a 130 load container for $8 dollars. MORE FOR CHEAPER? OKAY. If Earth Friendly Products is okay with this arrangement, so am I.

My girlfriend recently tried to go on an Anti-Walmart Boycott (which really miffed me, btw) ... she works at a restaurant and needs white work shirts. She tried going to Target and found they had uglier\shittier shirts for significantly higher price. I laughed at her and told her to go to WalMart. After about a month of this type of shit she finally ended up back at WalMart with me.

If you find someone who has the product that you want and think is best. Buy it from them.

But fill me in on why "we" are supposed to be boycotting some of these peeps!

[brianlux]

yeah.
so much SHIT.


But fill me in on why "we" are supposed to be boycotting some of these peeps!

To start with, what you said at the start of you post! Neil and the boys agree:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZFtjRycPDs

[riotgrl]

yeah.
so much SHIT.


i'll be honest ... i'll buy whatever it is i need\want from whomever has the best product at the best price.
i'm not some sort of brand purist, and i don't take out my political complaints on corporations.

i'd actually like to hear from some of the people who have posted on this thread their explanations for WHY they avoid certain companies (ie. proctor & gamble, coca-cola, hershey, are three i have seen war-cries against here) ...

My girlfriend and I primarily shop at Kroger, and we almost universally choose their "generic" or store brand version of ALMOST EVERYTHING. But not just on price ... we check the labels to make sure there isn't a bunch of SHIT in the products as well.

In the case of ALMOST EVERYTHING on that corporate brand chart, they are ALL filled with SHIT. I tend to avoid these products, NOT because of their corporate owners, but because the products either outright suck (bad ingredients) or are simply overpriced versus other brands.

EXAMPLE OF MY PURCHASING LOGIC:

Cereal: We buy Kroger brand. It's half the cost, and doesn't contain partially hydrogenated anything.

Toilet Paper: Which ever 2-Ply brand is on sale at best cost \ unit. No brand loyalty.

Worcestershire Sauce: I actually prefer to go over to Food Lion for this. I won't pay $5 a bottle for LeaPerrins, and the Kroger brand has "shit" (high fructose corn syrup, etc) in it. Food Lion has identical ingredients to Lea Perrins (real anchovies, tamarind, garlic, vinegar) for over 50% cheaper.

WE SHOP AT WAL-MART TOO:
Eggs: Kroger has cheap "cage free" eggs for about $2.35 a dozen. But WAL-MART has FREE RANGE eggs for $2.90 a dozen. I'd rather pay 50cents more and give the chickens some room to run, as well.

Peanut Butter: Shit has gotten ungodly expensive. Wal-Mart has an All-Natural (no hydrogenated crap) store brand ("Great Value") creamy, no-stir peanut butter at a great price.

Laundry Detergent: This one is interesting. We use Earth Friendly Products "Eco Free and Clear" detergent for our laundry. I can get it at Kroger, but it is $13 for a 100-load container. WAL-MART has a 130 load container for $8 dollars. MORE FOR CHEAPER? OKAY. If Earth Friendly Products is okay with this arrangement, so am I.

My girlfriend recently tried to go on an Anti-Walmart Boycott (which really miffed me, btw) ... she works at a restaurant and needs white work shirts. She tried going to Target and found they had uglier\shittier shirts for significantly higher price. I laughed at her and told her to go to WalMart. After about a month of this type of shit she finally ended up back at WalMart with me.

If you find someone who has the product that you want and think is best. Buy it from them.

But fill me in on why "we" are supposed to be boycotting some of these peeps!

Well, WE don't HAVE to do anything. I assume (correct me if I'm wrong) based on previous posts I've seen of yours that you will buy based on pure economics (meaning buy the best for the least). I buy differently. I personally don't buy chocolate unless it's fair trade because to ME it is important that child slaves are not used to make something for me to eat. I also don't shop at WMT because I object to their treatment of employees. Keep the employees on part time status so they con't have to pay benefits so they can continue selling us cheap crap AND they can make huge profits. I subscribe to the theory that if WE boycott WE can change what stores like Kroger and Wal-Mart carry at their stores (for example, Wal-Mart used to not carry anything considered "organic" "cage-free" "free-range" because their customers only wanted to buy cheap and these items are expensive.) Isn't that what the free market is supposed to be about?

[chadwick]

http://youtu.be/ZRFyfTnxj80
http://youtu.be/4KQW3_5bH48
http://youtu.be/fajiWmAuvSY - (in india coke has poisons in it because they are using shit water from their own mistreatment of water) duh... dumb ass coca-cola fucks


coca cola sucking up most of all the water in india leaving many w/ "what the fuck," written on their faces.
ground water levels have fallen drastically since coca-cola moved into Kala Dera, some ten meters in four years. coke steals water and water rights everyday.

i simply will not drink coke and i go out of my way to avoid their (countless) other products.

and another with great solid info
http://youtu.be/DocRKFKhrK0

[brianlux]

Pepsico supports the war machine. Lots of info out there on that one.

[satansbed]

I think there is a balance to be had at the end of day, you don't want to buy from some companies because you feel they don't behave in the right way, Brilliant thats good for you, however i really hate when people guilt trip people for not behaving the way you behave. just as you have the choice to not buy other people have the choice to buy.

[brianlux]

I think there is a balance to be had at the end of day, you don't want to buy from some companies because you feel they don't behave in the right way, Brilliant thats good for you, however i really hate when people guilt trip people for not behaving the way you behave. just as you have the choice to not buy other people have the choice to buy.

Point taken. So maybe we should encourage people to purchase from companies that are environmentally and socially conscientious rather than discourage from buying from those who are not. Encouraging probably gains more than guilt tripping.

[lukin2006]

Well enough has been posted about the companies that cause negative problems...

How 'bout listing companies that are more on the positive side?

We also have to remember that not every one lives in an area that getting access to products in which the company that produces these products are responsible or can people afford these products.

[satansbed]

I think there is a balance to be had at the end of day, you don't want to buy from some companies because you feel they don't behave in the right way, Brilliant thats good for you, however i really hate when people guilt trip people for not behaving the way you behave. just as you have the choice to not buy other people have the choice to buy.

Point taken. So maybe we should encourage people to purchase from companies that are environmentally and socially conscientious rather than discourage from buying from those who are not. Encouraging probably gains more than guilt tripping.

Yeah i think thats a better way to do it.

i think you could change the way consumers behave more by promoting a product that is ethical than protesting a product that isn't.