PledgeBank United Kingdom
I’ll do it, but only if you’ll help

Pledge “dvd-boycott”

"I will boycott Sainsburys and Woolworths for 6 months due to their banning of DVDs due to religious pressure. but only if 10 other people will do the same."

— Steve Chaloner (contact)

Deadline to sign up by: 25^th December 2005
129 people signed up (119 over target)

Country: United Kingdom

More details
Sainsburys and Woolworths have banned the sale of a comedy DVD due to pressure by a religious group - details are at http://www.mediawatchwatch.org.uk/?p=300

Sainsburys has admitted it received 10 complaints before banning the DVD, therefore 11 people should override that by becoming the new majority. Sainsburys have said that "ultimately, the most important factor is what our customers want" - if they want to end the boycott of the pledgees early, they can reinstate sales immediately.

There is at least one other pledge related to this, but it doesn't have financial implications for the stores.

Comments on this pledge

• There is another similar pledge you could sign at:
  http://www.pledgebank.com/JerrySpringer
  AndyPryke, 4 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
• It's all about options surely... these religious bigots don't have to put their hands in their pockets and buy the products they're complaining about!
  Matt Pallatt, 4 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
• Boycotting them is all very well, but a letter to your local store manager expressing disgust/outrage/disapproval/unwillingness to enter his store and explaining exactly why will be far more effective. Hope this is part of the plan too. (Hey Steve, email us some bullet points for us to flesh out into a good letter!)
  Tim Morley, 4 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
• It's up to the public to choose what they want to watch, not a blinkered, hypocritical, self-righteous, self-appointed censor.
  Adam 'knightslayer' Romain, 4 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
• This is all about power masquerading as religious sensitivity - note well how this fragile sensitivty soon disappears when these same religious zealots start foaming at the mouth at mere mention of gays, secularism, pro-choice matters, etc. Ignore these people at your peril - always challenge this kind of discrimination.
  Nick Read, 4 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
• I have no patience with people, religious or otherwise, who seek to control the activities of others. I would guess, however, that a significant number of the contributors here have supported various bans on the activities of others; such as fox hunting, smoking, etc. Stones and glass houses come immediately to mind. The only things I would ban would be any attempt to ban anything, and fundamentalist religion of course.
  David Britten, 4 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
• I have found communicating with Sainsbury's about this has got me nowhere. They have not answered any of the concerns expresses here and now have told me the correspondence is closed without addressing any of my concerns. As I am a (former) customer it seems to me that their claim about 'what customers want' is just fobbing me off.
  Marguerite Hegley, 4 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
• I have little interest in this musical and will probably never see it, but I don't see why others should not be allowed to see it if they wish. Many thousands of good men died in the struggle to preserve our freedoms, including that of expression and to be free of the kind of power that the church has been privileged to impose on us through government. That power having been attenuated over the past 50 years, religious fundamentalists now seek to regain that power by other means. We now need to use the same tactics to oppose them.
  David Britten, 4 years ago. Abusive? Report it!
• Marguerite:
  
  Two suggestions for you:-
  -- if writing to head office has got you nowhere, ask for the manager of your local store. Plan carefully what you're going to say and how you're going to say it, and turn up with a written copy as well that you can leave for him/her if they're not available. This should clearly state what your grievance is, *and* what you expect the manager to do, *and* that you expect a written response with 14 days of receipt saying what action they will take, or what reasons they have for not taking any action.
  -- put at the bottom of the written letter "cc The Evening Standard" or "The Stratford Herald" or whatever your local paper is, and send a copy to the editor too.
  
  If none of that gets you anywhere, and if you've got the guts for it, phone the newspaper and ask them to send along a photographer to accompany you for your next visit to see the manager. You will at least be guaranteed their full attention that way.
  Tim Morley, 4 years ago. Abusive? Report it!