Arrgh! I can't boycott these people!

I'm pretty frustrated with the way things are these days. There's this feeling of powerlessness that really makes me angry. Unrequited anger, which makes it worse, like cyclical worse.

Background: I am boycotting Activision. They made some punk decisions that I disagreed with, and so I'm voting with my wallet. I won't buy anything that Activision makes. No WoW:Cataclysm. No Guitar Hero 3. Not a dang thing with the Activision logo on the cover. That's how I make them pay for doing something that I don't approve of.

So here we are November 2nd, and the political ads will soon be off the air. Finally. The past two months have made me thankful for Netflix and my DvD collection, because I just can't bear to have broadcast TV playing. It's disgusting. I won't rant too much about it because I don't want to get off-message. So, I'll just say that political ads suck, and need to GTFO my TV. Now.

But here's the part that makes me mad: I can't boycott these jerks.

If it was the Pepsi company running dozens of distasteful ads every night, I could just choose never to buy a Pepsi product, ever. Bam. I have the power to punish the Pepsi comapny (albeit in a very small way, hey, i'm only one guy).

But these d-bags? I can't boycott them! I can't set a rule that says "I won't vote for anyone who's run a political ad on TV" -- that means I won't vote for ANYONE! Naturally, not voting for anyone isn't a good solution, for a lot of reasons.

Grr. I'm powerless to stop these jerks from pooping all over broadcast TV for months at a time.

WTB legislation which outlaws ALL political advertisement on TV, nationwide. They did it with cigarettes.|||Hey, at least politicians aren't invading your actual shows, right?|||Quote:








I'm pretty frustrated with the way things are these days. There's this feeling of powerlessness that really makes me angry. Unrequited anger, which makes it worse, like cyclical worse.

Background: I am boycotting Activision. They made some punk decisions that I disagreed with, and so I'm voting with my wallet. I won't buy anything that Activision makes. No WoW:Cataclysm. No Guitar Hero 3. Not a dang thing with the Activision logo on the cover. That's how I make them pay for doing something that I don't approve of.




I feel the same way about EA.


Quote:








So here we are November 2nd, and the political ads will soon be off the air. Finally. The past two months have made me thankful for Netflix and my DvD collection, because I just can't bear to have broadcast TV playing. It's disgusting. I won't rant too much about it because I don't want to get off-message. So, I'll just say that political ads suck, and need to GTFO my TV. Now.

But here's the part that makes me mad: I can't boycott these jerks.

If it was the Pepsi company running dozens of distasteful ads every night, I could just choose never to buy a Pepsi product, ever. Bam. I have the power to punish the Pepsi comapny (albeit in a very small way, hey, i'm only one guy).

But these d-bags? I can't boycott them! I can't set a rule that says "I won't vote for anyone who's run a political ad on TV" -- that means I won't vote for ANYONE! Naturally, not voting for anyone isn't a good solution, for a lot of reasons.

Grr. I'm powerless to stop these jerks from pooping all over broadcast TV for months at a time.

WTB legislation which outlaws ALL political advertisement on TV, nationwide. They did it with cigarettes.




Surely there's some third party candidate you can vote for. Probably lots of them. Or do a write in vote for Cthulhu.|||Quote:




Surely there's some third party candidate you can vote for. Probably lots of them. Or do a write in vote for Cthulhu.




Well, I still want to vote for candidates who represent my ideals and/or who I believe will do a good job. Writing in a joke vote or fringe candidate is the same as not voting at all, and neither are good solutions.

So even though I may end up voting for Candidate X (because I think he/she's more qualified than Candidate Y, or whatever) I'm still not able to inflict any meaningful punishment onto Candidate X for pooping all over my TV for the last 2 months.

It's a no-win situation, and it bugs me.

"QQ" |||Sorry, but I don't really get how Activision is like a political party.


Quote:








It's a no-win situation, and it bugs me.




It's only a couple of months, and it pays the bills. Besides why are you watching TV without TiVo?|||Quote:








Writing in a joke vote or fringe candidate is the same as not voting at all, and neither are good solutions.




While I agree that voting "Cthulhu" or something isn't a good solution, it still is better than not voting.

At least it shows interest in voting, even if you end up looking like an idiot who doesn't know where to put the X.

What the voting system - any voting system - really needs is a "none of the above" option, showing that you are willing to vote but like neither.

Sadly, it'll cost the votes of those who think "I have to vote SOMEONE", so I doubt anyone is ever going to implement that...|||I'd vote for change. But Obama didn't run in Canada.|||Quote:








Sorry, but I don't really get how Activision is like a political party.




The bit about Activision was to add background to the narrative and to draw a distinction between a problem that I can solve and a problem that I cannot solve. So I wasn't saying that Activision was like a political party at all. Quite the opposite.


Quote:




It's only a couple of months, and it pays the bills. Besides why are you watching TV without TiVo?




No cable, so no real need for TiVo, and no budget to buy one anyway. I'm thankful that my antennae pick up a digital signal these days. That digital conversion thing was a game-changer for TV at my house.|||Quote:








It's only a couple of months, and it pays the bills. Besides why are you watching TV without TiVo?




Pfft. I can watch all of the shows I keep up with online. I obviously don't watch much, though.

Comcast already charges too much for internet. Like I'd ever want to give them more for TV I won't watch. (and I wouldn't get around to watching DirecTV either)

And good for the OP, I say. Blizzard is mostly great, but WoW and Activision are not. Down with time/life/money sinks and lousy DRM. The only upside is that there are signs of EA wising up on some of their DRM and release policies. (and Ubi's even worse system) Like Dead Space 2 coming to the PC.|||The best person to represent your views, is yourself. Vote for yourself.

Or you could collect all the add videos, and make an appealing presentation of how they tick you off (everyone can emphasize with it); then send it to Steven Colbert, he does a segment with it on his show; and BAM, the advertising aristocrats are sullied. (if only).