Boycotting is a form of protest against companies that have displayed questionable behavior/business practices/ethics/etc. However, being a righteous person and boycotting these companies can be tiring. It has become increasingly popular over the years, especially since human rights seem to be being violated more and more. People are trying to boycott, but some don’t have access to that kind of privilege. It seems more frequently companies have been doing things that a lot of people want to boycott.

The most recent incident has been the Israel v. Palestine situation. Some companies have been linked to donating to Israel, which is problematic because the country has been committing war crimes. Although both sides have been making the wrong decisions, it’s not a mystery that Israel has been wrongly attacking Palestine for decades. Companies that have been linked to donating are Burger King, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut.

For this reason, the best thing for a company to do is to donate to neither because it can possibly lead to miscommunication and people boycotting. But one of the problems in boycotting is not knowing where to shop if everything is being boycotted.

Some people may ignore these things, but others may overthink it and feel guilty supporting these groups, especially if these places are donating to something that is opposite of what you believe in.

Although donating to Israel has been one of the main contributors to boycotting, there have been other major conflicts such as stores no longer supporting diversity in their store. This doesn’t exactly mean not allowing certain people in their store, which in itself would be a major issue, but that they no longer have diverse models representing what they are like clothing or commercials.

Stores that have stopped supporting DEI (DIverse, Equity and Inclusion) are Target, McDonald’s, Walmart and Dollar General. Some stores that haven’t rolled back on DEI are Sephora, Ulta Beauty, e.l.f. Cosmetics, Costco and TJ Maxx.

While people that don’t listen to others telling them to boycott receive backlash, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a bad person. Some can’t do it because they aren’t aware or they can’t afford to. If you’re not a big influencer or celebrity, others don’t seem to care. Boycotting stores doesn’t seem to be relevant to others unless you’re famous.

Boycotting is not always easy, especially since so many stores are problematic in different ways. Boycotting is a group effort that is hard to do if people don’t try or don’t know.

Senior Matthew Romero said, “I don’t boycott because I find there are bigger issues in my personal life that I must deal with and I don’t have the time to worry about where I can go and what I can do.”