Kid_Kyoto
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We seem to get some variation of the "Let's all boycott GW because of x" thread here about twice a month. More generally in response to unfavorable policy changes, price hikes, or other seemingly goofy actions being taken by GW. My goal is to provide a well reasoned explanation on why every single boycott has failed so far, why each one will continue to fail, and why you're only hurting the odds of one succeeding by recommending it. My fear is that this will not change anything, and I'll have wasted my time upon deaf ears.
On Why Boycotts are a Bad Idea, and Why Yours is Destined to Fail
First off, you may or may not be aware that boycotts are called upon specifically for GW products once or twice a month at Dakka alone, sometimes more often still if there is a well publicized fiasco or a sudden and painful corporate policy change, like a price hike. Frustration or irritation at these things are natural and to be expected. You're not to blame for feeling that way. I mean, after all, we're all only here because we enjoy 40k/Fantasy, and like it or not, GW is 40k/fantasy. Their rules, their miniatures, their sandbox. That anger and hatred you feel only shows you are genuinely passionate. Otherwise, you'd shrug and hang it up to do something else.
The problem here though is that you're boycotting something out of anger, it's something you accept as a hobby, and you're specifying a duration for it. Consider the statement, "Let's boycott GW for x number of days." Assume that your movement grabs momentum, and suppose even 50% of all sales are disrupted for that period of time. Now consider that I'm Tom Kirby (or some underling capable of making the policy change you've demanded). You, as a "protester", just defeated yourself by stipulating a period of time that you were boycotting the product. This all but broadcasts that you're returning back to being a customer once your period of time is over. You're going to buy those things you've deprived yourself of, and guess what? You only managed to resist buying it for so short a period of time, it's probably still on this quarter's earnings, That's right. I don't even have to point out your petulant little stunt to the people I am beholden to. You have done nothing but waste your time. In all fairness, I probably didn't even know your boycott happened.
Boycotts in general, unless executed properly, are a terrible idea, because with every unsuccessful person screaming for a knee-jerk boycott in response to a price hike, or an edition change, or whatever, there are people who might have taken it seriously who listen. They might even follow your lead, no matter how poorly thought out it might happen to be. At the end of the exercise, for the reasons mentioned above, they see nothing has changed. Congratulations, you've just killed off someone who might have been able to help make a difference. You've turned them into a cynic. They won't bother next time. You're preserving the status quo and helping GW. Well done.
So then, how do you have a good boycott? It's simple. You turn it into your hobby. You don't boycott for a week, a month, or even a year. You boycott. Period. Full stop. Once you've done that, you don't stop there. You market it. You develop a face for your cause; a polished website at a easy to find location, notifications at websites, youtube, maybe even advertisements. Tell your plan to everyone you can, in well thought out terms, and what you hope to cause. Advocate alternate games. Put up flyers in stores talking about how GW stuff hurts your community. Work on getting your local groups at your FLGS into other games, and let your FLGS owner know that you all are cool if s/he drops GW stuff.
A Brief Commentary on My Observations of Publicly Traded Companies and "Greed"
This is going somewhere, I promise. Publicly traded companies have a obligation to their stockholders to make money. This drives up their stock price, and also pays dividends. The problem here is that continual growth is desired. It doesn't matter if you make one billion dollars a year or one hundred billion, so long as you're making 10% more than that next year. It might not actually be 10%. It might be 5%, or 20%, or something entirely different. My point is that continual growth is demanded. As you all know, continual growth in perpetuity is not really sustainable. This means that, at times, you have to squeeze other elements, cutting costs, to achieve whatever your goal is. GW is not "greedy", it is simply full of people who want to meet their bonus numbers and keep their jobs, just like everyone else in a corporate environment.
The New Face of a GW Boycott; My Personal Recommendation
I have a simple and interesting idea. I make no guarantee that this will work. I'm not even aware of anyone who has even campaigned for something like this. It's a straightforward idea though. If you want to organize a boycott, go one step further. Take all that money you would have spent on GW product, and instead buy GW stock. If you don't like the way the company is being run, own the company. Urge anyone else who is interested in change in GW to do the same. Sell it to people as I recommend. Just, please, stop crying wolf on boycotts every other week.
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Personally, I don't care about a boycott. I wouldn't support it, but I wouldn't rally against it or anything stupid like that. Would I like cheaper plastic army men? Of course. At the same time, they're plastic army men. It's a luxury good, being sold by a single company. I could manage without, and would probably be better off spending my money on something "productive".
I've just grown very, very tired of seeing this same topic come up time and time again. The above is genuinely what I believe you need to do to make this successful. Do it, or stop complaining.
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