Products or business you refuse to patron
 

What products do you refuse to buy or businesses you refuse to patron because of a political or personal desire not to let ______ get your money.

For example, some people hate Walmart and refuse to shop there. Some people refuse to buy (French wine), or any gas from Exxon, or what ever.

I refuse to buy any cheesesteaks made outside out of the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area. :)

I have heard those Phily guys are pretty rabid about what actually goes into one and how they are made. I saw a thing on CNN once where somebody was trying to get a paton on the name "Phily Cheesesteak".

A cheesesteak is almost like a sacrament...something to be admired, worshipped and consumed with trepidation and joy.

I don't hate folks outside Philly that make 'em, but they just don't get it. It's something that just can't be recreated willy-nilly.

Wow, I just had a vision of a cheesesteak communion wafer!

Toshiba Laptops.

Perkins Family Restaurants.

Olive Garden.

I refuse to patronize plenty of places because they suck... but nothing for political reasons.

Amen!

Eggs from battery farms.

I've grown to dislike various companies mostly for anti-consumer attitudes, so I tend to avoid them. But nothing with any kind of religious fervor.

For example, it really bugged me several years ago when S0NY introduced their memory stick when there was clearly an industry standard of compact flash. In hindsight, I realize it's kind of silly, because there have always been format wars of one variety or another, but it seemed so clearly wrong of them to do that. They made a conscious decision to hurt the consumer in order to maximize profits. I think they fragmented the memory card market and now everybody has their own kind of cards. Nothing is standardized, and the consumer loses. I haven't purchased any of their products since. Mainly because it left a bad taste in my mouth. But if they made a product that was worthwhile, I'd probably buy it. I stand limply by my convictions.

I'm probably gonna get thrown outta here for this but - and I spent a few years in Philly - I could NOT get used to them using *gulp* Cheese Whiz. I mean for the love of all that is good and Holy - Why would you screw up an otherwise heavenly dish with -Ulp- Cheese Whiz????

And while I'm at it (may as well go out in flaming glory) - the other annoying thing they would do is when they added the Pepperoncini - it would be full of stems n' stuff - inedible stems. There was no option - I had to pick 'em out one by one [/Monk].

Ok, I'm cleaning out my desk. And ducking. :thepain:

:)

Is it just me, or does Cheese Whiz sound like a potential concern for the uncircumcized with poor hygiene habits?

I hated Whiz on my steak...I think I had it twice while I lived there. White American for me...of course, I also added un-Philly items like catsup and mayo. That's because I'm a bizarre fuck.

That's trivial shit though...plenty of folks will disagree over little stuff like cheese or peppers or onions. I'm primarily hating on places like Arby's or Subway trying to make some concoction and calling it a Philly Cheese steak. And the sad thing is, they're never very good.

Although, I think McDonald's had one about 2 years ago that they actually sold in Philadelphia. It was okay, but nowhere near like the real thing.

I still don't understand that. I mean, the stems are softened a little by the brine, but wtf?

I don't understand what's not to understand. I spit out the pepperocini stems too. In fact, almost *died* once, I grasped the stem, put the pepper in my mouth halfway, bit it clean through and in the act of swallowing the damn pepper, I got a spoonful of the vinegar/pickling/brine/poison down the wrong pipe. I could hear it sizzling in the bottoms of my lungs as my diaphram strained to turn my lungs into external organs. I felt like I'd just beer-bonged a drum of Judge Doom's Dip. I thought I was gonna die, and I was afraid I wouldn't. Gawd.

Inedible. Understatement of the week. Sheesh.

I was not clear. I don't understand why they don't cut the stems off. I don't like the stems either.