Tag: boycott

Hostess: the mostess, for a few

I boycotted Hostess from about 1970 until the Vietnam war was over in 1975.

For me, the issue of the Hostess Brands snack food line apparently going under – I can’t believe that someone won’t buy this venerable line – isn’t the loss of Ding Dongs. It’s that, apparently, the company had “manipulated” its executives’ pay–sending its former chief executive’s salary, in particular, skyrocketing- in the months leading up to its Chapter 11 filing, in an effort to dodge the Bankruptcy Code’s compensation requirements.

Yet the stories I hear on the nightly news talk about the failure of the company to come to an agreement with the unions. Implicit in that is if it weren’t for the greedy unions, we’d still have our Twinkies. Maybe, just maybe, it was the unions who were offered a bad deal, and are now getting a bad rap.

I have a peculiar history with Hostess. During the Vietnam war, the product line was owned by ITT, and ITT built stuff that helped the war machine. So I boycotted Hostess from about 1970 until the war was over in 1975. Truth is, I never much liked Wonder Bread all that much, and after I started eating whole-grain breads, Wonder Bread was inedible. I liked Twinkies, though. Finally, after a half dozen years, I tried a Twinkie again; I thought it was AWFUL, pure sugar. Had my taste buds changed, or did my previous political antipathy make it taste bad? But I still liked the fruit pies when I tried them again, though I preferred the ones by Drake, which had a fun commercial to boot.

Mark Evanier made some interesting points. “They came out with ‘100 calorie’ packs of their Twinkies and cupcakes… but the experiment caused me to swear off their products for good. The size of a Twinkie that got the calories down to that acceptable number was so small as to be unsatisfying and it made me more acutely aware of how many were in the full-sized version.” Other brands did the same thing, and I had the same reaction. As for Wonder Bread, “by the time they did offer a ‘whole grain white,’ it felt insincere on their part.” Absolutely!

I’m not planning on buying up some Hostess products. Despite the cliche, they WON’T last forever like styrofoam.

 

Paul Simon’s Graceland, plus 25

When the Graceland album comes out in the fall of 1986, there are a lot of positive reviews, though there is some discussion of cultural imperialism, talk Simon occasionally faced directly,

On June 5, the 25th-anniversary edition of the landmark Paul Simon album Graceland will be released. It has a few demo or alternate tracks, plus something described as “The Story of ‘Graceland’ as told by Paul Simon,” which could be interesting. But what is really intriguing is the DVD that comes with it, Under African Skies, directed by Joe Berlinger, which I saw on A&E a few days ago. It not only discusses the making of the album, and shows the reunion of many of the artists; it also addresses the huge controversy over the album and the subsequent tour.

There was a United Nations cultural (and other) boycott of South Africa at the time of the recording of Graceland, because of the oppressive apartheid policies of the government. Paul Simon’s record label guy Lenny Waronker said that the African music Simon had been listening to could have been produced by studio musicians; Warnoker says that Simon looked at him as though he were crazy.

From HERE:
“I was very aware of what was going on politically,” Mr. Simon says in the film, though later he admits he really wasn’t. Harry Belafonte had urged him to get the blessing of the African National Congress before going, which he didn’t do. Mr. Simon bristled at such constraints and decided that the welcome and cooperation he got from black musicians was all the approval he needed.

The album gets made, but the release date is pushed back. Simon is already scheduled to appear on Saturday Night Live, and does so, with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, performing “Diamonds on the Soles of Their Shoes”, to thunderous applause.

When the record comes out in the fall of 1986, there are a lot of positive reviews, though there is some discussion of cultural imperialism, talk Simon occasionally faced directly, as shown in the film. Then he decided to go on tour:

From HERE (And check out the videos):

Nearly 25 years ago Paul Simon staged one of the most controversial pop shows in history. When he performed in April 1987 his Graceland concert was seen by some as an affront to a United Nations and African National Congress (ANC) cultural boycott on the apartheid-era in South Africa.

Others saw it as a celebration of the country’s rich musical diversity. At the time Simon was joined by South African musicians Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. But outside leading musicians joined protestors which included Billy Bragg, Paul Weller, and Jerry Dammers, famous for writing the anti-apartheid anthem, Nelson Mandela. Together they demanded an apology from Simon.

Graceland ends up winning the Grammy for best album. Moreover, Simon eventually gets invited by the Mandela government to perform in South Africa after the boycott was over.

From HERE:

At the end of the film, Simon reflects on the controversy with Dali Tambo, founder of Artists Against Apartheid and son of the late African National Congress (ANC) president Oliver Tambo. He is still convinced Simon was wrong to break the cultural boycott, and Simon remains firm in his belief that art and music are a force for good that should never be repressed.

They end their debate with a hug, but you can see that this debate may never be resolved.

Lots of good insights in this film from Belafonte, Masakela, Paul McCartney, and Oprah Winfrey, who initially supportive of the boycott of the album until she heard the music, which transformed her life. I also had a bit of ambivalence over the album at the time, and I was really happy to see Simon’s rationale at the time.

I’m always loath to get an album that I’ve gotten before, in this case, on both LP and CD. But if you haven’t gotten the CD, or your LP is starting to skip, the documentary Under African Shies makes the purchase worthwhile. the film is also available separately, on Blu-Ray, for a price twice that of the CD/DVD combo.

The Boy in the Bubble – Paul Simon

The No Grapefruit Diet?

I did have my nutritional needs to be met, and I switched to grapefruit juice exclusively. And when the boycott was over, I found OJ less exciting, less tangy than grapefruit.

One of my favorite things to eat is grapefruit. I prefer pink to white, but either is fine. I love to drink grapefruit juice as well.

When I was a child, there were these cans of DelMonte blended juices, which were just OK. But it wasn’t until I was in college, and got to consume fresh or frozen juice and fresh fruit that I really became a convert. And, in large part, I have Anita Bryant to thank.

Anita Bryant was a former Miss Oklahoma who became a singer with middling success. “In 1969 she became a spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission, and nationally televised commercials featured her singing ‘Come to the Florida Sunshine Tree’ and stating the commercials’ tagline: ‘Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.’

“In 1977, Bryant’s campaign led to a repeal of the anti-discrimination ordinance [in Dade County (Miami), Florida]… However, the success of Bryant’s campaign galvanized her opponents and the gay community retaliated against her by organizing a boycott of orange juice.” I joined in the boycott until she was dropped by Florida Citrus Commission “in 1979 because of the controversy and the negative publicity generated by her political campaigns and the resulting boycott of Florida orange juice,” which was, as I recall, fairly successful.

Meanwhile, I did have my nutritional needs to be met, and I switched to grapefruit juice exclusively. And when the boycott was over, I found OJ less exciting, less tangy than grapefruit. Moreover, the flavor of orange juice too long in the refrigerator used to turn yucky, a problem I almost never experienced with grapefruit juice.

Every year, we order from my in-laws a case of citrus as a fundraiser. It can be all oranges, all grapefruit, or a mixed box. We were about to put in the order when my wife asked whether I should be eating grapefruit because it mixes badly with statins, which I started taking to keep my cholesterol level down. I said, “What?”

As it turns out: “When grapefruit juice is consumed at or around the time you take your statin, the components in grapefruit prevent these enzyme systems from breaking down the drug, causing the drug to accumulate in high amounts in the body. This can be very dangerous and can cause a variety of health problems, such as liver damage or a rare condition called rhabdomyolysis (severe muscle and kidney damage).”

So it’ll be grapefruit in the morning, statin at night, and never the twain shall meet.

The Boycott QUESTIONS

You need a critical mass, patience, and, ideally, an alternative to achieve success in a boycott.


Arthur at AmeriNZ wrote about a possible boycott of the store Target, and the reasons why. (Has anyone written the obvious headline, “Target target of boycott?” Subsequently, MoveOn.org sent out this e-mail:

Target, the retail giant, just became one of the very first companies to take advantage of the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision allowing unlimited corporate cash in elections.

Target has spent over $150,000 in the Minnesota Governor’s race backing state Rep. Tom Emmer, a far-right Republican who supports Arizona’s draconian immigration law, wants to abolish the minimum wage and even gave money to a fringe group that condoned the execution of gay people.

Target must think customers won’t care. They’re wrong: We do care, and we need to let them know that we want Target—and all corporations—out of our elections.

Will you send a message to Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel telling him that you’re not going to shop at Target unless they stop trying to buy elections? Click here to add your name to the petition.

A lively discussion ensued at Arthur’s blog about the fact that Target has been a gay-friendly place to work, whether boycotts work or are tilting at windmills, and even if you wanted to boycott, say Target, does this mean you end up shopping at, say, Wal-Mart, who have policies others oppose?

  1. Thoughts on the specifics of the Target boycott. At present, I’m inclined to sign a petition, but not yet to boycott.

  2. Have you ever boycotted a product or service? I have, everything from Twinkies (ITT) to lettuce and orange juice. Actually, I’ve also boycotted Wisk detergent because I found their “ring around the collar” commercials so offensive. (But now, my wife buys Tide anyway, so while my technical boycott still exists, for her it’s just product preference.)

  3. Do boycotts ever work? Certainly, the Montgomery bus boycott did in the 1950s. Eventually, the Florida “sunshine tree” growers dumped Anita Bryant as their spokesperson. To some degree, the one against Nestle over baby formula was successful. I’ll contend the boycott against South Africa ultimately helped to end apartheid.

You need a critical mass, patience, and, ideally, an alternative to achieve success. The conversation about Target is that it may be Target, Wal-Mart, and not much else in many small towns.

Please add your collective wisdom.

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