Boycott Watch  
                             
Frequently Asked Questions
 
 
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  Q   What is a Boycott?  
         
  A   A boycott is 'an agreement not to do business with'. Thus, one cannot boycott alone. Two people must agree in order for a boycott to exist.  
       
  Q   Do boycotts work?  
         
  A   Yes. Anyone can declare a boycott at any time, but most boycotts are ineffective. Some boycotts, however, have had or can have a major financial impact a business. Some companies, therefore, have been forced to change their policies and practices as a result.  
         
  Q   What is Boycott Watch?  
         
  A   Please see our About page for information about Boycott Watch.  
         
  Q   Is Boycott Watch politically aligned to any party?  
         
  A   Boycott Watch is in no way politically aligned, nor do we take stances on issues. If you read our reports, you will discover that Boycott Watch verifies boycott calls. The only time we take a side is if something is blatantly anti-American or is in violation of US laws.  
         
  Q   What makes a boycott successful?  
         
  A   In order for a boycott to work, there must be significant economic impact from those who have used or would purchase the products or services targeted by the boycott.  
         
  Q   Who can declare a boycott?  
         
  A   Anyone can declare a boycott, but that does not mean the boycott will have success.  
         
  Q   Does Boycott Watch give advice to those who want to declare a boycott?  
         
  A   No. Boycott Watch does not assist or publish guidelines to assist in boycotts.  
         
  Q   Why didn't you publish the senders email address?  
         
  A   In cases where the individuals are passing email around, it is usually very difficult to determine who the actual originator is. In some cases, we receive the same email from multiple sources. Our policy is to publish the names of organizations that are sponsoring boycotts, but not individuals, because the individual may just be one of many people passing an email on. We just don't want to be the cause of one person having their personal email box filled up because they just passed along one email. However, any organization sponsoring a boycott must take responsibility for its boycott call, so publishing the contact information including an email address is fair.  
         
  Q   Are you really just a business advocacy site?  
         
  A   No. Boycott Watch has confirmed boycott information as well as debunked false boycotts. We simply look for the facts and report it. If we are hired to consult, we do not let that influence our reports.  
         
  Q   How do you determine what to report on?  
         
  A   Boycott Watch looks for boycott calls that potentially have economic impact, the primary criteria for a boycott to work. We prefer to look for areas where we feel posting both sides of the story will benefit consumers and shy away from politically charged boycotts that have never ending arguments, such as abortion and fur.  
         
  Q   Why do you have so many Israel related boycotts?  
         
  A   Israeli politics is not our concern. We are not an Israeli organization. Are there allot of Israel and Jewish issue reports on our site? Yes, that is because there are an overwhelming number of boycotts aimed at Israel.  
         
  Q   Do you take sides on issues?  
         
  A   No. Boycott Watch reports both sides so you can decide what the truth is.  
         
  Q   Does Boycott Watch declare boycotts?  
         
  A   No. Boycott Watch reports boycott calls and their source with comments from the boycott target. We do not engage in boycott activity.  
         
  Q   Can you advise me where to purchase non-boycotted products?  
         
  A   Boycott Watch cannot and will not recommend any place to purchase any items related to any boycott. We are non-partisan. Our role is to present the facts from both sides as best we can.  
         
  Q   If you do not recommend places to purchase, how can you place ads on your site?  
         
  A   Ads placed on out site are from an agency and are done so we can pay our bills, including hosting. We would like to get away from ads by securing donations, but we have to pay the bills somehow in the mean time.  
         
  Q   Can I recommend a boycott be reviewed and reported on by Boycott Watch?  
         
  A   Yes. Please use our contact form to email us. We will read your email and if warranted, we will perform a preliminary investigation and report our findings.  
         
  Q   What if I think a Boycott Watch report is wrong?  
         
  A   If you feel our report is in error, you can hire Boycott Watch to do a more thorough investigation. You will have to contract us to discuss our investigation fees, but here are the guidelines: 1) Investigation fees must be paid in advance and are non-refundable. 2) Boycott Watch will report our findings regardless of who hired us. 3) Boycott Watch will accept your information and look into it, but Boycott Watch will direct the investigation, not people who hire Boycott Watch. 4) Please be sure you are right before hiring us, as you are paying for our investigation time and expense, but we do not give preferential treatment to any one side, no matter who pays for the research.  
         
  Q   Who pays the salary of the Boycott Watch staff paid?  
         
  A   Boycott Watch primarily makes money via consulting. We do not, however, allow consulting to interfere with our reports.  
         
  Q   What is a False Boycott?  
         
  A   Boycott reports sometimes are designed to have a reverse effect and are announced to make either the alleged boycotter look bad, or both the boycotter and the boycotted look bad. A prime example is the recent Oprah / Hilfiger boycott, where a comment was allegedly made by Tommy Hilfiger on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The comment was never made, but a boycott was announced that was based on false information. As a result, for a short time some people refrained from purchasing Hilfiger products and some people even claimed to have seen the show that never existed or know someone who did.

The false claim ended up hurting all parties in the claim even though the Alleged incident never occurred, and thus it was a false boycott.
 
         
  Q   Is there such thing as a undeclared boycott?  
         
  A   Technically no since there must be an agreement not to do business with, but in many cases there are undeclared boycotts based upon political climate or current events can also damage a company. A prime example of this is the loss of clients of Andersen Consulting after the Enron collapse.  
         
 
 
   
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