Every time I make the mistake of falling down a social media rabbit hole when I’m battling insomnia, depression or financial anxiety–which at this time of the month is practically every waking moment–I inenvitably regret when I respond with anything more than a thumbs-up emoji or the equivalent. What can I tell you–I’m a glutton for punishment. After all, look at my history with spouses.
But for a change I seemed to draw praise when I confessed that I no longer eat Chick Fil-A. To many, apparently the idea of supporting a company that has made donations to anti-LGBTQ+ groups is a bridge too far. And to those that are directly affected by such decisions, I completely understand the desire to spend one’s hard-earned money on fast food elsewhere. My main reason for being a regular customer for years was the fact that unlike so many others that offer ostensibly cheap eats their grilled chicken nuggets was the only such nourishment that didn’t eventually give me diarrhea, trigger my digestive issues or contribute to my persistent migraines. That, and the fact that the store in my area was frequently e-mailing me offers for a free 12-piece order once a month. And as anyone in my world knows all too well, the appeal of a free lunch transcends all other arguments.
Alas, those offers are no longer coming, and they’ve recently raised their prices yet again. So no more grilled nuggets for me. I’ve had to pivot to convenience store hardboiled eggs to get my protein fix. You’d actually be surprised how satisfying that can be, and my tortured innards are thanking me daily for that decision. But apparently not as much as many who interpreted my decision as somehow supporting their determination to boycott anything they interpret as discriminatory. Even those that are not and have no significant friends or family members who identify as LGBTQ+.
And in the wake of all of the triggering, swamp-flooding moves being taken by the fat farting fascist that somehow got a plurality of America to willingly return him to a building he is now balls-deep into renovating with other people’s money, that list of bridges too far has grown exponentially. And last week BUSINESS INSIDER’s Bryan Metzger actually took the trouble of compiling an exhaustive list of those companies and individuals that are apparently those other people. To his credit, Metzger did attempt to place said list into some sort of context:
The White House provided Business Insider a list of 37 donors that include companies like Apple, Amazon, and Meta, along with several individual donors. CNN reported earlier on the list. It’s not yet clear how much each donor is contributing to the project, though Alphabet is known to be contributing $22 million as part of a legal settlement over Trump’s suspension from YouTube after January 6.
I’ve had that list shoved down my throat from a flurry of declarative soul-cleansers who have felt the overwhelming need to share their decision to boycott several of these egregious companies, most notably the media companies such as Comcast, Amazon and Apple. And when somehow HBO and Warner Brothers Discovery were erroneously dragged into the morass with its potential connection to a possible sale to Comcast that produced a host of messages announcing immediate cancellations, many with seller’s remorse to the (ahem) Max. “I am so loving THE PITT, but I’ll have to somehow live without it”, said one particularly remorseful Threads-er. “Could someone link me to a season recap?”
I couldn’t help but note the irony that that person was not only still more than willing to engage with people who are still supporting HBO but they were doing so on a platform owned by Meta.
Their rationale, as several provided, was underscored by the belief that media boycotts are somehow significant, especially in the wake of how they interpreted the post-mortem analysis of how impactful last month’s celebrated boycott in the wake of L’Affaire Kimmel was. Here’s how BROADBAND TV NEWS’ Julian Clover broke it last week:
Disney+ and Hulu saw a sharp spike in cancellations in September after ABC briefly suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live!, according to new estimates from Antenna. The analytics firm says Disney+ recorded around 3 million cancellations in the month, with its US monthly churn rate rising from roughly 4% in August to 8% in September. Hulu cancellations reached about 4.1 million, with churn up from 5% to 10%. Antenna’s figures exclude bundle subscriptions.
Coverage has linked the spike to the mid-September suspension of the late night talk show host that led to social media calls to boycott Disney’s streaming services. ABC reinstated the show on 23 September. Despite the increase in churn, Antenna also tracked higher new sign-ups than in recent months – about 2.2 million for Disney+ and just over 2.1 million for Hulu – suggesting the impact was partly offset by gross additions. Price rises across Disney’s streaming portfolio may also have influenced behaviour during the period.
I hate to be a killjoy, but the researcher in me doth need to point out the implications of the last two sentences, which at minimum negate any financial impact by at least half. The last one in particular reminds that there are other more pressing motivators for folks to take action these days besides culture war implications. Pretty much the same sort that has led me to go cold turkey on Chick Fil-A. And I’m gonna be extremely curious to see any October numbers that Antenna has the capacity to provide to show how many of those September cancellations became recidivist subscriptions in the wake of Kimmel’s reinstatement, meaning that after all the flag-waving and self-congratulatory X-eets, truths and posts the actual amount of money those “all is forgivens” saved in the long run was zero.
The latest such emotional overreaction has come from a number of lifelong Los Angeles Dodgers fans who had declared they are no longer capable of rooting for the team to win the World Series they are currently engaged in. Mostly because they chose to accept an invitation from the current resident of that owner-builder renovation at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue last year, and now that it’s down to one wing it’s sacreligious to even think of setting foot inside it. When this image began to appear in numerous feeds yesterday there were sighs of relief that they now could “safely” resume their support. 
When it was later learned that, much like the actual HBO link to donations that was, as they say in MAGA-world, “fake news”, the sabers began to rattle in earnest again.
Look, I don’t know about you, but I have yet to have ever stepped foot into the White House and I don’t think I’m on any upcoming invite lists. But if somehow that happened I’m not above at least allowing myself the experience. The majority of Dodger players felt similarly last year, and I strongly suspect much will be the case again if they happen to get three more wins. Because unlike most of you they’re actually being confronted with real-life decisions, not playing out fantasy activism in their minds.
News flash: None of us matter to this administration one way or the other, and no action you take will change that. Certainly not what any one of bring to the table financially. None of us made Metzger’s list. That’s the kind of scale one needs to be noticed. You know who’s capable of doing that? A viable, electable political candidate who has a firm list of policies, personal integrity and communication skills to take on the farter-in-chief and his minions. You may believe someone out there qualifies on those counts already, though I’d debate you on that. I have repeatedly urged those with enough time on their hands to endlessly attempt to develop a personal playlist that has no association with any cause that you somehow find deplorable to take that obsessive energy and find some local official, or even media personality, that you’re at least intrigued by that may not yet be common knowledge. Have any of you done that recently?
And as for what should matter to you, may I respectfully pose a query to those of you blessed enough to actually still have family and friends that you’ve watched a Dodger game in person or even on TV with recently–or at bare minimum like moi at least can fall back on memories of such with long-departed relatives whose loyalty to the team was unwavering no matter what? Is what you think is a misguided use of private donations to upgrade a 90-year-old fixer-upper THAT big a deal that you’d be willing to forgo making any further memories? Go ahead and think less of me if I confess my answer is “hell, no”. And if I were blessed enough to have a child in my life who’s too young or detached to care about this overblown topic that might feel let down if you somehow chose to doom-scroll through social media instead of watch the World Series with them I’d be all the more willing to prioritize accordingly.
Incidentally, the last time I did get the chance to drive through my local Chick-Fil-A for those yummy and reasonably healthy grilled nuggests was during Pride Month. The extremely courteous person who took my order was wearing a rainbow colored pin and while I can’t obviously say for sure my first impression was that this person could be gay. Not that it mattered to me one whit, and I’m sure they weren’t judging me for my choices, either. After all, like I said, free lunch trumps all.
Until next time…