ACTION: BATH/BODY WORKS FALLS TO AFA DEMANDS

I have an idea for a little political fun, especially for those of you who might be near a phone tomorrow or would care to send an email. It's time to start running interference for companies that don't seem to have enough information or spine to stand up to the demands of organizations like the American "Family" Association. While I know some of us have issues with big corporations,( and with good reason), I think the current flood of threatened wingnut boycotts demanding their brand of religious correctness be institutionalized is enough to motivate some of us to take a little counter action. This could be fun.

According to a post on another blog, the AFA announced that the 1700+ chain Bath & BodyWorks has stopped carrying the popular little "I Can" bracelets offered by American Girl because some of the money is donated to Girls Inc. and this promotes abortion and lesbianism, among other things (at least according to the religiously correct AFA).

In their campaign, the AFA directed people to flood the Bath & BodyWorks lines threatening not to shop there unless these bracelets were pulled, and the company eventually caved. Like many companies, I suspect B/BW had little knowledge about the escapades of the AFA, or that they support the work of the Family Research Institute, which the Southern Law and Poverty Center listed as a hate group. I doubt they knew this organization (and its predecessor) has threatened/lobbied/boycotted hundreds of companies, advertisers, networks, production companies as harmful to our moral foundation as Roseanne, Three's Company, and the assumed gay-obsessive overtones in "Shark's Tail."

So, here's my idea - and this won't take more than a few minutes of your time. Call or email B/BW
(customer relations 800/395-1001 - I got this number from their cust.service people) and express your disappointment that the company fell for the orchestrated threats from a fringe religious organization which launches these attacks as a major part of their mission. Tell them that you believe that a business should be able to make choices in stock to serve all their customers, regardless of religious or non-religious belief, and that you feel that B/BW is endorsing a fundamentalist organization that media studies have shown doesn't reflect the values of mainstream America. Tell them that you understand how a company can be caught offguard, but that it is a good idea to ask callers if they are associated with an organization and then hold off other complaints until the company can do thorough research on the organization. And then tell them that your apprehension in shopping there now is that their stock must be approved by the AFA, and since you believe that every person has a right to worship or not according to their own conscience, you don't want to feel that restrictions in your buying choices should be an endorsement of the AFA's religious beliefs.
Then drop the real bomb - since the company made a choice to accede to the orchestrated threats of the AFA, respectfully ask that they place a sign prominently in the window of their stores explaining that B/BW has decided not to carry American Girl bracelets because the American Family Association has demanded they adhere to their religious and political beliefs. Tell them that you don't wish to ask this, but you feel the company now has an obligation to inform all their potential customers that they have been coerced by the AFA to make decisions affecting the choices of all their customers.
Then mention that you believe there are many, many people who want to know when this group has attacked a company because they believe it is an attack on their own religious and political beliefs, particularly their idea of freedom of choice, religion, and access to available products in the marketplace.

This American Girl bracelet is popular with young people, apparently. Tell them that you don't believe they should be forced to sever a relationship with a reputable business just because someone doesn't want to purchase the product. Apparently there are plenty of people who do, and they don't wish to have the AFA make decisions for them.

Here is the link to the AFA release:

http://www.afa.net/activism/Issu...tail.asp? id=179

You can find information about AFA's support for that research institute in Colorado at:

http://www.americablog.org

Here is a list of the many programs and companies who have felt the wrath of this group over the years: (this is only a listing up to 1992!):

http://www.mediacoalition.org/reports/wildmon.html

These companies are often caught offguard, have no information about this organization or the directions issued, don't necessarily know this can be orchestrated and are likely not happy at all that they were harassed.

Umm...well, what do you think?

from stores that succumb to the threats of the AFA.

I want my fucking country back from morons.

that's the whole reason why we should ask they place signs in their windows indicating that the AFA has demanded they not sell this product, and the reasons why the company complied. I think just telling them that might make them start to really think about what happened.

We do need to get an organization that will distribute informational sheets about these organizations to every major company in the country, so that they can make decisions ahead of time about how to identify and handle them . . .and protect the rights of the overwhelming majority of other Americans in this country.

I have had it with these mofos. And why do these companies buckle so quickly when they make noise? Clearly, we're not making enough noise. It's time for the silent majority to tell AFA and the other wackos to shut the fuck up!

I used to go there and get the best lotion and body spray. :cry:

I guess I won't shop there anymore. I don't like companies that do what religious fanatics want. What other companies are pro-AFA now? I'll boycott them, too.

Tammy

even though they carry other American Girl things, the target was those bracelets and they pulled them after the AFA demands.

It is time to spend a few minutes each day making sure we preserve our religious liberties and our freedom of choice.

though they are blubbering around trying to find a way to pretend they still have some self-dignity.

a reason to boycott Bath and Body works other than "their stuff smells like crap".
Is there a list of companies that support American Girl somewhere? I always had the dolls when I was little (I still do, in storage) and I think it's a great company and I want to support them AND Girls Inc.

I'd also like to support American Girl.

And on the Bath and Body Works thing, consider it done! I'm sick of these fascists taking us all hostage with their little temper tantrums and threats to boycott or whatever it is they threaten. It's all bullshit.

I'm sick of all these assholes trying to make us all walk in lock step with them. It's disgusting. I'd be happy to tell the company so personally!

Thanks for the suggestion,(original poster)!

I always wanted one but never got one. :shrug: I think they're so much better than Barbie. They're more to reality.

I always loved that they came with BOOKS. I mean, yes, they were thin books, but I loved them when I was a kid. Also, the dolls all have a story and are quite historically accurate. There's one from WWII, a black girl who escaped from slavery, a girl from the Depression, one from the turn of the century, one from circa-Revolutionary War...there's LOTS and they are super fun and educational. When I have kids I will definitely get them an American Girl and not a Barbie.
Okay, I am done ranting and raving about dolls now.

enough said! I can't even walk into the place without my throat swelling shut. If I get any more of their product for christmas, I'll just return it like I do every year.

The Body Shop- as far as I know they are socially responsible AND make great stuff. A little expensive (at least for me), but a nice splurge. I hope they get a lot more business because of this.

Bunch of nuts. They don't stand for the typical family person at all. Just their own type. And what's with all this arm-twisting? What are they, storm troopers?

part of The Limited, a chain that also owns Express, Victoria's Secret, and others?

They are hardcore Republicans to start with anyway.

J. Crew has better clothes, and Gap Body has better lingerie, anyway.

J Crew and The Gap also use sweatshops.

In January, 1999, the Union of Needletrades, Industrial, and Textile Workers, along with anti-sweatshop activists, sued 18 companies, including The Limited, Abercrombie & Fitch, The Gap, J. Crew, and Tommy Hilfiger, and 22 factories on the island of Saipan, which is part of a U.S. commonwealth called the Northern Mariana Islands. Chinese and South Korean interests own most of the factories.

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051031/SRRARECOINS/310310002

probably with full knowledge on their part that they are being used.

What you do is, you get some group like the AFA to organize a boycott. The idiots sign onto the boycott b/c they slavishly follow the AFA's lead.

If the boycott is successful, the share prices and the value of the company begin to go down. Then you, who happen to be an investor in search of a bargain, buy either shares, or the company itself, at a nice low bargain price.

Then the AFA stops pushing its boycott. People begin to forget about it. People start buying again. The share prices and the company's value begin to swing back upwards.

And YOU own this company (or its shares) which is now worth more than it was when you bought it at a "fire sale" price.