Dizney Court

In today's economy and political climate it might seem like major corporations are

continuing to grow more powerful and care less and less about their consumers. But if

you take a closer look, the consumers may be the problem and the solution all in one.

The United States of America has a capitalist economic structure and a money driven

mentality. When large companies step out of line or make major mistakes, it is up to the

consumers to respond. Consumers can demand change by boycotting and supporting

industries, corporations, and large companies to reflect the consumers values.

A big issue going on today is the corruption in American companies who have

invested heavily in the Chinese market. However, one large group of American

consumers used their voices and their money to send a message. Hearthstone player

NG Wai broadcast his support for the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests by wearing a

face mask, a reference to the anti-mask law recently enacted by China, and shouted,

"Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our age!" after he won a Hearthstone Grandmasters

match. Blizzard responded by banning him and taking his prize money away. Fans were

outraged and banded together by ending their subscription based services with Blizzard

and got #BoycottBlizzard trending (Sirani, J. 2019, October 10). A big reason Blizzard

sided against the player is because they have major financial ties in Chinese

companies. After the boycott Blizzard cut the players ban in half and returned the prize

money (Liao, S. 2019, October 12). In this example, consumers had a direct effect on

the company financially, meaning consumers have the power to correct behavior from

corporations directly by boycotting their market and products.

 Another great example of consumers direct influence over corporations and

products is how they can use their voice to boycott the potential of sales. After

Paramount announced the Sonic live action movie and released a trailer it was met with

widespread ridicule over the characters design. The trailer managed to rack up over 22

million views but has nearly 500,000 dislikes compared to 291,000 likes. After a few

days of the backlash the director Jeff Fowler tweeted “Thank you for the support. And

the criticism. The message is loud and clear... you aren't happy with the design & you

want changes. It's going to happen. Everyone at Paramount & Sega are fully committed

to making this character the BEST he can be... #sonicmovie #gottafixfast”. Just the

threat of bad ticket sales from unhappy consumers drove the studio to make the costly

change the consumers wanted. Now the release date of the movie has been pushed

back from November 9th 2019 to February 14th 2020 in order to fix the main characters

design. The new trailer has now been released and is being received very well. CNN

reports Sonic has more Sonic-like proportions with larger eyes, a rounder face, a less

human-like mouth and less teeth. He more closely resembles the video game character

he is based on and not the creepy version they initially showed off (Kim, A. 2019,

November 12).

There is another phenomenon taking place within our generation when it comes

to the economy and its participants. Over time boycotting products or industries can

enforce a lifestyle change to reflect consumer values. Millenials for example have been

stereotyped with killing many industries, and there is some truth to this statement. One

of these dying industries is the diamond business. Millennials are leading the charge in
changing the stigma around buying lab grown diamond as opposed to traditionally

mined and more expensive diamonds. The two main reasons being diamonds are

prohibitivly expensive and millennials aren’t shy to give up the needless extra cost, and

that lab grown diamonds are conflict free and more eco friendly (Hanbury, M. (2018,

May 10). Being frugal and ecofriendly are two of the many values the millennial market

is reflecting through the industries they do and do not support. Another example of the

dying industries millenials are killing are a certain type of restaurant. There is less of a

demand for mid-range sit down restaurants that offer a wide variety of average quality

food with underpaid staff taking your order. Hit especially hard have been Buffalo Wild

Wings, Chili’s, and Applebee’s: these restaurants have long been associated with poorly

paid staff, and mid- to low-quality, overpriced food. Consumers now prefer to have food

that is more convenient to order (often through an app or website) and that offer pick-up

or delivery to save time and money (Higdon, K. 2017, September 28). The value

reflected in this lifestyle change is that the market overall has a stronger need to be

frugal and leave more free time for family, hobbies, and rest.

Not only can the market influence industries to make change but, the market has

the power to create demand from our industries. Over the past 20 years the vegan

movement has created a massive market for mainstream vegan products. In America in

2015, according to one survey, 3.4% of the population were vegetarian and just 0.4%

were vegan. But 2019 will be the year veganism goes mainstream.Interest in a way of

life in which people eschew not just meat and leather, but all animal products including

eggs, wool and silk, is soaring, especially among millennials. Fully a quarter of 25- to
34-year-old Americans say they are vegans or vegetarians (Parker, J. (2019). There are

now tons of mainstream vegan products available like ice cream, milk alternatives, plant

based protein, egg replacers, single serve meals, and so much more (Vega, S. 2018,

December 26). Arguably one of the most monumental products to be introduced by the

push of the veganism movement is ‘Beyond Meat’ or ‘Impossible Meat’. This is a

meat-free substitute that mimics beef. Tyson Foods, a meat behemoth, has a 5% stake

in Beyond Meat, which sells meat-free patties to TGI Friday’s, a restaurant chain. Even

Big Meat is going vegan (Parker, J. (2019). Several fast food chain restaurants like

Taco Bell and Burger King now have a meatless, vegan alternative to their foods that

allow vegan patrons to enjoy the taste and consistency of meat, while still participating

in a cruelty-free experience. Another indication of this trends success is when

Impossible Foods announced in May it had raised $300 million in a new funding round.

This came hot on the heels of its competitor Beyond Meat's explosive initial public

offering. Both companies have faced product shortages as consumer demand continues

to rise and the product category enters the mainstream (Jiang, I. 2019, October 28).

As consumers we now know that we do have the power to make changes in our

spending habits to reflect our values. However, consumers don't need to change the

values in every industry, but should make consensus effort to boycott reflecting their

own personal values. It can be daunting to think that every purchase you make has to

be ethical, but a good start is to look into the causes and behaviors your support most.

Look into some of your favorite companies and make sure they share your values. For

example, Disney has a history of shady business and unethical alignments behind the
scenes. Most recently, Disney was brought to task for cutting residual pay for musicians

that composed content for their streaming services. According to OC Weekly, “Right

now, Disney is the biggest player in the movie industry, they don’t want to have to pay

musicians anything after the first time they do the recording. Since studio recording

work can be sporadic, losing out on residual payments could lead to a steep 75 percent

cut in income, claims the union. That, and many musicians have given producers

discounted rates on the assumption streaming content would offer the same residual

pay as traditional “secondary market” DVD home release and cable reruns” (Román, G.

S., Poorman, Beers, J., Coker, M., & Carman, B. 2019, November 14). Deciding to not

sign up for Disney+ would be one of the best ways to boycott if this was a cause

consumers wanted to support.

Now is the best time for informed consumers to use the economy to enforce their

values onto the industries that make up the fabric of our economy. It can be easy to

succumb to the feeling that large corporations don’t have any responsibility to the

consumer, and that our individual choices don’t make a difference in the grand scheme

of things. But now, more than ever, thanks to widespread consumer-awareness

movements, it’s possible to make your voice heard through your consumer habits.
Reference list:

Sirani, J. (2019, October 10). The Blizzard China Controversy, and Why #BoycottBlizzard Is
Trending, Explained. Retrieved from
https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/10/09/activision-blizzard-hong-kong-china-boycott-blizzard-re
sponse​.

Liao, S. (2019, October 12). Blizzard said it will return prize money to Hong Kong esports
player. Retrieved from
https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/12/tech/blizzard-hong-kong-response-blitzchung/index.html

Kim, A. (2019, November 12). The 'Sonic the Hedgehog' movie tries again with a new trailer,
and people finally like it. Retrieved from
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/12/entertainment/sonic-hedgehog-movie-redesign-trnd/index.html
.

Hanbury, M. (2018, May 10). Millennial attitudes are forcing a massive change in the diamond
industry. Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-want-cheap-ethical-diamond-engagement-rings-20
18-5​.

Higdon, K. (2017, September 28). Why Millennials Are Not To Blame For Killing Chain
Restaurants. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2017/09/28/why-millennials-are-not-t
o-blame-for-killing-chain-restaurants/#36c92a9522d3​.

Parker, J. (n.d.). The World in 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019, from
https://worldin2019.economist.com/theyearofthevegan​.

Vega, S. (2018, December 26). 15 of the Most Amazing Vegan Products That Came to Market
in 2018. Retrieved from
https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/15-of-the-most-amazing-vegan-products-that-came
-to-market-in-2018/​.

Jiang, I. (2019, October 28). Plant-based 'meat' is conquering fast food. Here's where you can
get meat substitutes like the Beyond Burger and the Impossible Taco. Retrieved from
https://www.businessinsider.com/burger-king-tgi-fridays-chains-sell-plant-based-meat-2019-5​.

Román, G. S., Poorman, Beers, J., Coker, M., & Carman, B. (2019, November 14). Disney Plus
Arrives Minus Residual Pay for Union Musicians [Alt-Disney]. Retrieved from
https://ocweekly.com/disney-plus-arrives-minus-residual-pay-for-union-musicians-alt-disney/​.