It all started with the orange juice

We don't even shop together anymore.

With so much going on at the end of 2024, it probably escaped your notice that Anita Bryant died back in December. But her death got me thinking about how we ended up in our current culture war. For those who have forgotten, Bryant was a former beauty queen and singer who became the spokeswoman for Florida orange growers. Then, in 1977, she spoke out against a piece of gay rights legislation. Infuriated activists demanded that the OJ people fire her or else they would boycott their product. I was just 10 years old at the time. I barely understood what “gay” meant. But my mother reassured me that the boycott wouldn’t matter because “People like us will just buy more orange juice.” She was wrong. Bryant would lose her job, her career, her marriage and her money. She died a pariah still despised in liberal circles.

Anita Bryant, As Long as He Needs Me, Columbia Records. Courtesy of Flickr, photo by Kevin Dooley

But my mother kept buying orange juice.

This taught me an important lesson at an early age: some people were willing to push for change and put their money where their mouths were. And that average, middle class, mainstream Christians like my mother would not.

The fight for gay rights would continue (and some would say continues still.) I wasn’t allowed to watch the TV show “Soap” because it had a gay character and Jerry Fallwell said that was bad. So, naturally I became obsessed with the show and watched it behind my mother’s back every time I got the chance. It’s not like Christians didn’t TRY to arrange boycotts, they just weren’t very good at it. There were several attempts to boycott Disney (I can’t even remember WHY) that never got off the ground. My minister became a national leader in the effort to boycott the movie “The Last Temptation of Christ,” which gave a very mediocre film millions of dollars in free advertising.

I usually describe myself as a “recovering liberal.” I’m a not very proud graduate of Smith College, and they taught me well the power of the boycott. During my college years, Apartheid protests were very big. Activists took over the president’s office demand that the school divest itself from any businesses in South Africa. I watched one black student scream in the face of another for committing the unpardonable sin of drinking a Coke. We weren’t supposed to patronize Papa John’s pizza because they supported pro life causes. But the food on campus sucked and Pizza Hut wouldn’t deliver to us, so I would place an order, meet the delivery boy at the door, throw money at him and beg him to go before someone saw me. Then I would eat it alone in my room with the lights off. I didn’t want to be the next target of public shaming.

But keeping track of what businesses donated to what causes and adjusting your own spending remained a liberal value. Back when we all wrote for The Resurgent, I often got frustrated with my fellow conservatives. They would complain about how every major corporation seemed to only support liberal causes (back before “woke became the boogieman.) I pointed out to one friend that he was opposed to gay marriage, so maybe he should quit going to Starbucks. He just shrugged and said “yeah, but they make good coffee.”

My, how times have changed. This week, Axios reported that 38% of Americans surveyed say that they recently stopped shopping at companies with different political views. 45% of Democrats responded that they did, and 34% of Republicans responded yes as well. Many American companies have recently reversed their DEI policies, not just because of Trump’s executive orders, but because they’ve been unpopular with consumers. Bud Light and Target have found themselves on the receiving end of MAGA ire. Now, Target is facing calls for boycotts from liberal groups. It’s like they just can’t win!

I’m pretty torn by all of this. On the one hand, it’s adding to the increased polarization of our society. Pretty soon, we’re all going to carry around a list of stores where we’re allowed to shop, restaurants where we’re allowed to eat, and TV shows that we’re allowed to watch. We’re already self sorting into neighborhoods where people vote like us, and churches where our politics are aligned. On the other hand, I absolutely support spending in alliance with your values. I know conservatives who still won’t watch the NFL and gay people who refuse to eat at Chik-Fil-A. I may not agree with them, but I certainly can’t say they’re wrong. We should absolutely support companies that match our values. In fact, I would say that’s a better way to wage this culture war than by trying to take over the government and force the other side to bend to our will.

Conservatives got off to a late start on this, but they’ve been catching up thanks to social media. Just look at what happened to Bud Light. Those Disney boycotts finally materialized as parents objected to the message in some of their movies. But liberals continue to fight and have cause the social media platform formerly known as Twitter to bleed advertisers. I wouldn’t be surprised if they start lighting Teslas on fire soon.

It would be great if we could take politics out of some stuff. Maybe Hollywood could just go back to making good movies and department stores could treat all of their customers with respect. And consumers could accept that they don’t have to like everything and allow others to enjoy the chicken sandwich of their choice in peace. The alternative is to code everything in blue vs red and fight this battle to the death – of our country.