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How a bid to win hearts and dollars can backfire

James Newburrie

by James Newburrie

20 Jul 12:10pm

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Filed under: Acl, Coffee, Gay Marriage, Gloria Jean S, Marketing, Social Media

88 comments

This story is about a very slow moving train-wreck that’s happening on Twitter right now. Gloria Jean’s has declared July to be “With Heart” month: the idea is that each Gloria Jean’s store makes a donation to a charity in it’s local area and the company publicises these donations to get positive PR around their brand.

Thankful for the financial support, charities like Variety Australia have suggested that its supporters should buy a coffee in tweets like this:

When marketers realised that people subconsciously prefer to buy products they identify with, a whole new era of marketing began. Instead of talking about the properties of their products, modern brands try to draw a subconscious link between how you would like to see yourself and what they’re selling.

They do this on the premise that a consumer will favour brand A over brand B because they believe that brand A is like them. And, who doesn’t want to believe that they’re good-hearted, community minded individual?

In this world it makes sense for a chain of coffee shops to support local, worthy causes because their customers can feel as if they’re connected to their local community. People tend to follow local charities on social media for this very reason.

On the surface it seems like a good deal: the charity gets much-needed cash, the company gets advertising, the consumer gets coffee and everyone is happy. So why is this a social-media train-wreck?

The Gloria Jean’s campaign has been “tagjacked”, instead of being full of local charity stories and people saying how they’ve just bought coffee to support their preferred causes, many Twitter users are using it to talk about a boycott of Gloria Jean’s. The #WithHeartLocal tag has filled up with angry tweets, such as:

Last month it became very public in social media that Gloria Jean’s and its owners have been among the largest financial contributors to many anti-gay marriage organisations, including Australian Christian Lobby, Family First, Hillsong Church, Mercy Ministries and organisations that sell faith-based ‘gay cures’. The company even apologised on its Facebook page for any offense these donations may have caused.

That’s why the #withheartlocal tag is full of Tweets expressing outrage at co opting local causes for PR aims:

I can’t imagine anyone in the Gloria Jean’s PR team is at all happy with the tweets coming through on #withheartlocal, but many of them are rip-snorters, including my personal favourite so far:

Describe this image

Gloria Jean’s has a simple choice to make – it can either further embrace the values that made it donate to Australian Christian Lobby, (thereby alienating 67% of Australian voters who support gay marriage), or it can dump the Australian Christian Lobby.  Just like the #qantasluxury mess, the Gloria Jean’s #withheartlocal debacle reminds us that social media doesn’t forget.

Most commented

88 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Mezz says:

      12:24pm | 20/07/12

      Gee whiz what a nothing story.  Slow-moving news day at The Punch?

      Reply

    • Simon says:

      01:18pm | 20/07/12

      Never mind donations to charities and actually helping people…
      MY GOD THEY SUPPORT THE ACL !!! BAN THEM NOW !!!get over it.
      dont like the politics, dont by the coffee. simple. If you like Variety as a charity, then get a coffee. easy. I am sooooo over reading Keyboard warriors posts/tweets/whatever complaining and suggesting boycotts when they do nothing them selves to help those who need help. Much like this story, the effort in this story could have been put into something worth while

    • Jayson says:

      01:44pm | 20/07/12

      This is hardly a ‘nothing’ story, it perfectly sums up how advertising using Social Media is hard to do. Not to mention no one actually forced you to read it.

    • kate says:

      01:47pm | 20/07/12

      “If you like Variety as a charity, then get a coffee.”

      Even better, if you like Variey as a charity, donate to Variety.

      And as a bonus, you can also support your local (non-GJ) cafe, drink decent coffee, and boycott the homophobic mysogynist d!c.kheads at Gloria Jeans. 

      Everyone wins smile

    • Sickemrex says:

      02:58pm | 20/07/12

      I don’t like the politics or the coffee. Easy. A social media backfire is a damn funny thing grin

    • Fiddler says:

      12:35pm | 20/07/12

      Wow, they donate to a number of churches, some of which are against gay marriage. Why not show a breakdown of how much they contribute to every charity.

      Yawn.

      Reply

    • Tubesteak says:

      03:47pm | 20/07/12

      umm actually Gloria Jeans is owned by one of the crackpot churches. Can’t remember which one, but when I found out I made a conscious decision never to go there. And they make crap coffee.

    • grant says:

      12:43am | 21/07/12

      @ tubesteak

      hehe…  ‘one’ crackpot’ church. 

      They all believe in magic, so what we should really say is, they are all crackpots.

    • Cry in my Gin says:

      03:37pm | 21/07/12

      @Cote D’Zure
      Thanks for the link. Perhaps you should post it on GJ’s twitter site.
      Amazing how facts work.

    • Tim the Toolman says:

      12:45pm | 20/07/12

      They’re not going to dump the ACL.  The company will burn to the ground before they dump the ACL.

      Reply

    • Samuel says:

      12:46pm | 20/07/12

      “Gloria Jean’s has a simple choice to make – it can either further embrace the values that made it donate to Australian Christian Lobby, (thereby alienating 67% of Australian voters who support gay marriage), or it can dump the Australian Christian Lobby.”

      Yeah, look, that’s not even remotely true. Is there any evidence that these campaigns have had any impact on Gloria Jeans’ bottom line? Come to think of it, is there any rational reason why someone should give two shits about what their coffee provider thinks of gay marriage? This “simple choice” is not actually a choice they need to make at all.

      You’re dead right about the fact that this kind of twitter campaign is stupid and ripe for implosions but talk about conclusions not supported by the evidence…

      Reply

    • Sam says:

      02:06pm | 20/07/12

      “alienating 67% of Australian voters who support gay marriage,”

      GJ looks like it is going for option 3, business as usual. They have realised that of the claimed 67%, only a couple of percent of people would give enough of a damn to conciously choose to walk 10 extra metres to the next coffee store.

      Social media can be good at making noise, but it rarely translates into anything meaningful.

    • Bertrand says:

      02:08pm | 20/07/12

      I know plenty of people who don’t shop at Gloria Jeans because of the way they funnel their profits to causes that the people find distasteful. I’m one of them.

      Why would I want my money going to the ACL so it can lobby the government to restrict the civil rights of gay people?

    • Stone age liberal says:

      02:23pm | 20/07/12

      Of course it will, we now live in a society where corporate behaviours affect our spending patterns. By behaving in such a poor manner as to be supporting a hate group, sorry vocal christians but thats what you are, it discourages people from using their services. This has been a pretty well explored concept in business leadership and marketing literature for at least a decade now, it is called corporate responsibility. Did you miss it, or are you just commenting on a subject you do not know much about

    • Stone age liberal says:

      02:23pm | 20/07/12

      Of course it will, we now live in a society where corporate behaviours affect our spending patterns. By behaving in such a poor manner as to be supporting a hate group, sorry vocal christians but thats what you are, it discourages people from using their services. This has been a pretty well explored concept in business leadership and marketing literature for at least a decade now, it is called corporate responsibility. Did you miss it, or are you just commenting on a subject you do not know much about

    • Stone age liberal says:

      02:23pm | 20/07/12

      Of course it will, we now live in a society where corporate behaviours affect our spending patterns. By behaving in such a poor manner as to be supporting a hate group, sorry vocal christians but thats what you are, it discourages people from using their services. This has been a pretty well explored concept in business leadership and marketing literature for at least a decade now, it is called corporate responsibility. Did you miss it, or are you just commenting on a subject you do not know much about

    • M says:

      03:04pm | 20/07/12

      @ Bertrand, I’ve been boycotting Gloria jeans for years because of who they donate too. I absolutly refuse to give them my business.

    • Shane* says:

      03:37pm | 20/07/12

      Nestle is still going strong…

      Just sayin’... companies get away with a hell of a lot worse than Gloria Jeans.

    • Tim the Toolman says:

      03:48pm | 20/07/12

      I’ve also been actively boycotting Gloria Jeans for years, because of what they do with their money.

    • Lars says:

      05:52pm | 20/07/12

      Couldn’t have put it better myself. The two are completely and utterly unrelated decisions for people to make in day to day life.

    • Sam says:

      01:52pm | 23/07/12

      in this thread 4 people who already don’t buy GJ coffee. So this article / campaign makes no difference to GJ’s bottom line. Business as usual.

    • Tim says:

      12:49pm | 20/07/12

      Wow,
      I’m sure this is a big deal on Oxford Street but the rest of us realise that the only people who use Twitter are retarded hipsters who think their 140 character musing are literary genius when really they’re complete shite.

      Reply

    • Jack says:

      02:33pm | 20/07/12

      What ‘hipsters’ are drinking at Gloria Jeans? It’s the sole province of fat volvo driving soccer mums at the local shopping mall and Hillsong douchebags.

      note: these two groups have a hefty overlap.

      But good work playing the corporate white knight. Tell us more about these ‘hipsters’ you read about in the Daily Telegraph.

    • Tim says:

      03:17pm | 20/07/12

      Jack,
      where did I say that Hipsters frequent Gloria Jeans?

      If you actually read my comment, I said retarded hipsters are the only people using Twitter.

      Perhaps you should engage your brain next time?

    • PsychoHyena says:

      05:36pm | 20/07/12

      @Tim, so if one of these retarded hipsters were to buy a product from you, we can then assume that you appeal to these retarded hipsters and therefore should boycott your product, because obviously if retarded hipsters are buying it, it must be full of shite.

      Let’s also consider however that many successes have come from the use of Twitter, including, but not limited to removal of controlling regimes. Let’s also consider that a number of politicians you support Tim also use Twitter.

    • Sock Turf says:

      12:50pm | 20/07/12

      Graceless gen-y whingers take to twitter for some self congratulatory slacktivism. What about all the good work Gloria Jeans are doing? I’d like to see the complainers GetUp! off the couch and do some hard yards helping the needy.

      Furthermore when Starbucks closed on Lygon Street the average quality of coffee available went down!

      I clicked on the ‘like’ button yet Joseph Konya remains at large? What is going wrong? Somebody in the government needs to do something!

      Reply

    • Jack says:

      02:36pm | 20/07/12

      GetUp!
      I see what you did there!

      That’s clever. You’re clever.

      And if you buy coffee there because Gloria Jeans does ‘good work’, you are far more gullible than the people you are attempting to denigrate. HAY GUYZ, I BOUGHT SOME GARBAGE DISHWATER TO HELP HILLSONG TELL HILLS DISTRICT KNOBS HOW JEEBUS WANTS THEM TO HAVE A NEW SUV.

    • Brando says:

      02:45pm | 20/07/12

      Yes! Let’s NOT go somewhere.

      Then sit on our arses on the couch sending tweets with our phone.

      The perfect form of protest by Gen Y who think lying perfectly still on something is a form of recreation.

      The coffee on Lygon Street must be really really bad

    • Dave Mc says:

      05:11pm | 20/07/12

      Wow Jack,

      Hillsong really gets your goat hey.

      You must be feeling guilty about something…

    • The Human Fund says:

      07:16pm | 20/07/12

      There’s a religion that wants me to have a new SUV? Tell me more….

      I like the sound of their ethos.

    • Scott says:

      02:58pm | 23/07/12

      As opposed to graceless baby boomers taking to news limited comment sections for some self congratulatory “back in my day” horse puckey? What good work have Gloria Jeans done? Less choice for women re: unplanned pregnancies! Whoo! And those pesky gays, too right. Send them all off to ex-gay camp.

    • miloinacup says:

      12:55pm | 20/07/12

      You know what…I am a huge gay marriage supporter. Anyone who has seen me debate this topic on here will know that. However, I still shop at Gloria Jeans on occasion. I don’t even see myself boycotting them (I doubt my once-in-a-blue-moon $5 iced chocolate will make much of a difference regardless) now that I am aware of where they like to donate money to.

      I’m unsure if this makes me a hypocrite or not.

      Reply

    • Cameron says:

      01:51pm | 20/07/12

      Perhaps.
      Wouldnt it would be like eating fast food? You know its bad for you, but as long as you exercise afterwards it cancels out.

      So maybe continue to shop at Gloria Jeans, and attend the odd gay pride parade to cancel it out???

      Just thinking outloud…

    • Mahhrat says:

      02:03pm | 20/07/12

      It does, actually.

    • miloinacup says:

      02:27pm | 20/07/12

      Mahhrat - now that I have thought about it, I’m inclined to agree with you.

      However, I will likely still buy my iced drinks there on occasion. Meh.

    • Shane* says:

      03:49pm | 20/07/12

      If you want to avoid hypocrisy you’ll also want to avoid buying Weet-Bix, Nike, Nestle, anything from Israel, any medication still on patent even if it’ll save your life, leather, fur, vaccines tested on animals back in the 50s, Cadbury, Coles Brand anything, Woolworths Brand anything, McDonalds, Hungry Jacks, KFC, Subway, Adidas, Bicardi Rum, BP, Cancer Council Australia products, Apple products, anything made in Japan, Kellogg’s, Nokia, Target…

      ad infinitum

    • miloinacup says:

      04:12pm | 20/07/12

      Yeah, I’ll stick with my hypocrisy I think. I love Target.

    • Aniko says:

      01:02pm | 20/07/12

      Great example that people quite the mindless drones that some companies think we are. Good use of social media for people to fight back against these companies that try to distance themselves from their own actions when their (now former) customers call them out on it.

      Reply

    • Aniko says:

      01:05pm | 20/07/12

      Good example that people aren’t quite the mindless drones that some businesses think we are. Great use of social media to fight back against these companies that try and distance themselves from their own actions when (now former) customers call them out on it.

      Reply

    • Kika says:

      01:14pm | 20/07/12

      I thought Gloria Jeans is owned by, if not a substantial part of it, by Brian Houston and his Hillsong Conglomerate? I have boycotted Gloria Jeans for years because of this very reason - as well as the fact they have crap coffee.

      Reply

    • Cameron says:

      01:39pm | 20/07/12

      same here! Couldnt care for it

    • Michael S says:

      03:00pm | 20/07/12

      Brian Houston and the Hillsong church don’t directly own any of Gloria Jeans. The company is owned by Nabi Saleh; who is an elder at the Hillsong church - but Houston and the church don’t own the company.

      I don’t shop at Gloria Jeans either; but that’s because the coffee shop next door to my office is closer, cheaper and has better coffee.

    • subotic says:

      01:16pm | 20/07/12

      Australian Christian Lobby, Family First, Hillsong Church.

      Now there’s 3 reasons to give up coffee if I’ve ever seen it.

      A curse on their hypocrisy, their political sneakiness designed to invade and take over our lives, and their terrible, terrible music.

      Reply

    • Cry in my Gin says:

      03:43pm | 21/07/12

      Turning Mormon would be 4 reasons to give up coffee.

    • Gimila says:

      01:51pm | 20/07/12

      I keep seeing people complaining about people boycotting companies based on disagreements with their behaviour/support.  Why?  If you either don’t agree or don’t care enough to change your behaviour or where you shop, fine; those of us that do care make our choice not to support businesses we see as unethical/supporting unethical causes.  And if there are enough of us that do, it’ll affect their bottom profits.  Welcome to capitalism!  That’s how it works!  It’s one of the few actions you can take.  Btw, this is hardly the first case of GJ being linked to dodgy practices/causes.  Personally I dropped them a while back when I first heard of their links with Hillsong and a link to dodgy “therapy” for vulnerable people (depression, etc) in the form of “prayer” in exchange for their income being signed over (for their own good of course!).

      Reply

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      01:58pm | 20/07/12

      Why give Gloria Jeans the glory? Why give Gloria Jeans the Great Big Tax Deduction?
      Why not donate Direct to YOUR Favourite Charity? They will send you a receipt & you can claim your donation on YOUR Tax return.
      If you don’t like the fact that Gloria Jeans support homphobic, so-called, religions, are homophobic themselves - unless you are buying a cup of their pathetic coffee - then Don’t Bloody Well Go There!!
      There are 1000s of great, privately-owned, small Coffee Shops around the country. Go to one of them. The bonus is that you will actually get Really Decent Coffee & Cakes!
      Remember Gloria Jeans & those other chains are in it solely for the Profit. They but the cheapest, nastiest coffee beans. In the race for which is worse it is a tie between Gloria Jeans & Cibo

      Reply

    • LostinPerth says:

      02:02pm | 20/07/12

      So now a company cannot donate to a charity or cause in case it upsets the gay lobby. Talk about thought police and intolerance. The gay lobby is demonstrating all the negative behaviour, paranoia nd prejudice it used to complain about when it was directed towards them.

      Reply

    • Dene says:

      04:07pm | 20/07/12

      huh? They are contributing to hate and intolerance.. and I will not support that.. not sure how that is thought police, I thought it was called opinion? I CHOOSE not to support that business.. I am not forcing others to. Noone jas a gun to your head- buy your coffee where you please..

    • PsychoHyena says:

      05:43pm | 20/07/12

      @LostinPerth, there’s nothing stopping them from making the donations, or are you trying to control people’s actions? If people want to say ‘Don’t purchase coffee here they support “x cause” and oppose “y cause”’ why should that bother you?

      You can continue going to that business if you like, however complaining about people boycotting over a stance like this is juvenile, would you complain about people boycotting a business selling dodgy products? Nope.

      Sure you might get heckled and badgered over your choices, but that’s free speech isn’t it?

    • Shane* says:

      02:04pm | 20/07/12

      Also, don’t donate to St Vinnies, the Salvos, Anglicare

      Sure, they help millions and do amazing work, but they have the audacity to have a differing viewpoint to the author’s!

      Reply

    • kate says:

      02:25pm | 20/07/12

      Why should I give a cent to Vinnies, Salvos, Anglicare or any other religious organisation?

      I give to the Smith Family, OzHarvest, Red Cross, Children’s Cancer Institute and dozens of other great charities which not only “help millions and do amazing work” but manage to do it without adding a serve of god-bothering to the free soup, and without funnelling any donated money into brainwashing and lobbying against me and my family.

    • Shane* says:

      03:35pm | 20/07/12

      What an incredibly spiteful view of the world you have, Kate.

      My local soup kitchen is Vinnie-run. A couple of bible passages posted on the walls is the closest thing to evangelising you’ll find. The Salvos don’t ask what your soul-status is before offering a bed in their refuge centres.

      How about a little perspective?

    • Tim the Toolman says:

      03:53pm | 20/07/12

      I don’t, actually.  I have no interest in propagating the destructive ignorance promoted by religion.  There are plenty of secular charities to give money to instead.

    • Mark says:

      03:59pm | 20/07/12

      Hahaha.. Awesome comment Kate!!! So so true….

    • yobogod says:

      04:12pm | 20/07/12

      having known a couple of people that worked at a few NT Salvo’s stores, I have to ask if funneling cash into a private family holiday is considered christian?  Certainly the director(at the time) of that branch must be assured of a place in heaven if it is!

    • Kika says:

      02:06pm | 20/07/12

      By the way - the caption photo. I’ve never seen a photo of instant coffee make coffee drinking look so delicious. Holey Dooley.

      Reply

    • dj says:

      02:09pm | 20/07/12

      While I do not support who they donate to, isn’t it still a free country?  As long as they disclose who the charities are is the important thing.  If they supported Gay marriage then the Christians would be facebooking.  This is a no win situation.  At the end of the day who cares.  If most people took the time to really look into many businesses then people would buy anything.  Why not stop buying Mac computers due to child labour.  The list goes on.  From a previous post, if you don’t like something then do something about it or just shut up.

      Reply

    • Mahhrat says:

      02:18pm | 20/07/12

      This is a big deal to me and some others.  I am very much against the actions of the owners (ultimately, Hillsong) so I refuse to shop at Gloria Jeans.

      It’s an opinion I hold strongly.  I support free speech too, so I applaud people who (politely!!) point out the Gloria Jeans of the world, and allow me to decide what other organisations to support with my resources, given their links too.  Variety will no longer be part of the list I consider supporting, should they use GJ to their advantage.

      Reply

    • ace leo ace says:

      02:29pm | 20/07/12

      If you invite user generated content, then you don’t get to control it because it is user generated. If you want to control it then you need to pay someone to create it and also pay for distribution.

      End of social Media Marketing lesson.

      Reply

    • Steve says:

      02:38pm | 20/07/12

      Its a good job the core of around 20,000 Aussies who sign/like these “protests” are inner city lefties who are too trendy to shop in such lowbrow surburban coffee chains anyway or easily brainwashed schoolkids who have no real spending power anyway.

      Slightly embarassing, whilst companies figure out social media, Yes.

      Hurting the bottom line, No

      Reply

    • Peter says:

      02:38pm | 20/07/12

      Gloria Jeans did themselves no favours when they claimed on their facebook that they merely purchased advertising at an ACL organised event, and it was then discovered via the Electoral Commission that it was in fact a donation.

      They denied donating money to Family First, until it was discovered that through their holding company donated money to an organisation ‘Families Australia’ that funneled all the money directly to Family First.

      I have no problem with the organisation making these donations - but be up front about such *donations*, and don’t expect all your customers to approve of said political donations.

      Gloria Jeans can support the ACL for all I care, but don’t expect me to set foot in the door and spend a cent in their stores as a result.

      Reply

    • M says:

      03:06pm | 20/07/12

      I refuse to buy anything from Gloria jeans for the simple fact of who they support and who they donate too.

      And their coffee is rubbish anyway. Really, how can you people lower yourselves to that?

      Reply

    • steve says:

      03:19pm | 20/07/12

      what do you mean by “you people?”

      Arrogant much?

    • M says:

      03:31pm | 20/07/12

      Don’t tell me you drink GLoria Jeans for taste? It’s vile…

    • miloinacup says:

      04:15pm | 20/07/12

      ‘Scuse you. Their cookies & cream iced chocolates are the bomb.

    • greg says:

      01:42pm | 23/07/12

      “Don’t tell me you drink GLoria Jeans for taste? It’s vile… “

      If you don’t buy from JG then how could you possibly know this sentence is true?

    • Joel B1 says:

      03:30pm | 20/07/12

      Boring…

      I just bought a “hippy” product. Hand-crafted, 100% Natural (like, what isn’t?) and Super Nutritious.

      It’s hand-seasoned and roasted on HOT-ROCKS to timeless Korean tradition.

      Yep, it’s seaweed-sheet snacks. And ironically they donate 5% of profits to Sea Shepard.

      That’s South Korea tradition and 5% to Sea Shepherd.

      Can anyone name a more conflicted product?

      Reply

    • Porter says:

      03:59pm | 20/07/12

      Can we all agree that Gloria Jeans make bad coffee?

      Reply

    • Loddlaen says:

      04:13pm | 20/07/12

      Yep. I agree to that!

    • Cry in my Gin says:

      03:50pm | 21/07/12

      All Punch readers in monotone unison- “we all agree that Gloria Jeans make bad coffee.”
      Next we will have “na na na na na na na na, LEADER!!!!”
      My apologies to the Simpson family.

    • PW says:

      04:06pm | 20/07/12

      67% of Australians support same sex marriage?

      Bullshit.

      Reply

    • Hanzel says:

      04:14pm | 20/07/12

      Do these recent anti-Christian boycotts remind anyone else of how the Nazi’s treated Jewish businesses in the lead up to the holocaust? This is how it usually starts…..and with the mainstream media dancing to the beat aswell….just saying.

      Reply

    • Bertrand says:

      04:34pm | 20/07/12

      “Do these recent anti-Christian boycotts remind anyone else of how the Nazi’s treated Jewish businesses in the lead up to the holocaust?”

      Not at all. People boycott Gloria Jeans not because they are Christian, but because they use the profits from their business to fund political campaigns that people find offensive, such as the ACL’s campaign to limit the civil rights of some Australian citizens.

      Most people don’t give a rat’s arse what your religion is. But we do care if you attempt to stifle the civil liberties of people who don’t have the same religious beliefs as you. Christians are not a persecuted minority.

    • Hanzel says:

      05:09pm | 20/07/12

      You have no evidence that GJ’s donations have been used to limit the civil rights of anybody. Progressive activists are simply attempting to rationalise the fascistic way in which they treat religious people.

    • PsychoHyena says:

      05:48pm | 20/07/12

      @Hanzel, if you are providing funds to a campaign in which people are refused a right how does that not impact on someone’s civil rights? Gloria Jeans may have a clause saying the money can’t be used for “x cause” however that just means that money can be pulled from elsewhere.

    • Bertrand says:

      06:06pm | 20/07/12

      Are you simple or dishonest?

      Gloria Jeans funnels money to organisations such as the ACL, Family First and Mercy Ministries, all of which campaign against gay rights and seek to limit the reproductive rights of women. You may not view treating homosexuals as second class citizens, but by any standard definition of the terms, it certainly is.

      All that progressive people ask for is all citizens to have equal rights under law and for the individual liberties of all people to be protected. This includes the rights of religious people to practise their religion. It does not include the right of religious people to force their beliefs on the rest of us.

      It is not fascist to say that religion shouldn’t have privileged status in society and it is certainly not fascist to choose to not give your consumer dollar to a company who uses its profits to support causes you find offensive.

      Godwin’s law says you lost this debate as soon as you claimed people who choose not to shop at Gloria Jeans are similar to Nazis.

    • Inky says:

      06:54pm | 20/07/12

      My heart goes out to those poor, poor Christians who are being persecuted against. How dare people impose their anti-christian beliefs on innocent people who’ve done nothing wrong and are simply trying to show everyone how much better the world would be if everyone followed their rules.

    • Carolyn says:

      03:33pm | 21/07/12

      Didn’t Hitler profess to be Christian? Am sure the Nazi’s had something stamped into their uniform belts about God or Christianity.

      It’s pretty disgraceful to attempt to connect the dots between the Holocaust and the Nazi’s treatment of Jewish shops, and the fact that people are boycotting Gloria Jeans because of where they direct their money. I don’t see Gloria Jeans storefronts being shot up, or spray-painted with yellow crosses and/or crucifixes, nor do I see staff members being tattooed, nor made to wear a crucifix on their work clothing. Neither do I recall the Christian version of ‘Kristallnacht’ throughout shopping malls which support GJ.

      It’s a pretty long bow to draw there Hanzel.

    • Josephine says:

      04:22pm | 20/07/12

      After experiencing a couple of awful coffees from GJ’s I have avoided them. They even set up shop in Five Dock of all places. It was no surprise that they didn’t last long. What were they thinking? As if the locals were going to buy their overpriced dishwater, sorry, ‘coffee’?

      I didn’t know about their religious / political affiliations until I saw a comedy sketch on ABC’s Mad As Hell.

      Reply

    • Condoseres says:

      04:50pm | 20/07/12

      To summarise: Corporations should only give money to charity if they agree with my political ideals. Corporations and individuals who support ideas I disagree with should expect to be vilified on social media for the sheer cheek of donating their money to people who disagree with me. That’s just how democracy works in the digital age.

      If you choose not to buy GJ’s coffee because you don’t like their political stance, fine. But to suggest that they have a choice between dropping the ACL because you don’t like them, or suffering the socmed wrath of a thousand angry trolls only proves that intolerance is a two-way street.

      Reply

    • Dan Webster says:

      06:12pm | 20/07/12

      Gay lobby tweeting in stealth.

      Reply

    • Inky says:

      06:52pm | 20/07/12

      Sigh.

      I once again remaind people that you reap what you sow. To those defending GJ, they’ve brought this on themselves with their donations, making some more donations elsewhere isn’t going to make that go away.

      If I donated a large sum of money to an organisation whos works included kicking the most adorable puppies you could find, I’d catch a lot of flak from animal rights groups and their supporters. And if I then went and donated a bunch of money to some other things and tried to make a big deal about how generous I am, do you think the animal rights groups wouldn’t attack me again?

      Yes, GJ can support whoever the hell they want. And people can choose to tear into them for that if they choose to. Frankly, considering the sorts of things online communities have done to companies they don’t like, hijacking a twitter tag is getting off pretty lightly. They could have goatse on their home page.

      Reply

    • Adam R says:

      11:44pm | 20/07/12

      This is why business’ shouldn’t play politics on either side. I think it’s pathetic that people have such a vile reception to different views based on belief. It’s almost always championed by some latte sipping leftie who will always stand up for multiculturalism and tolerance too… go figure. Companies can do with what they will with their money, I don’t just not buy products because they support gay marriage, even though I’m against it. Nor do I just not buy meat because the factory was pointed towards Mecca when it was cut.

      Just buy the coffee where you want to buy it. Social policies shouldn’t be the concern of business managers.

      Reply

    • Nesty says:

      12:24pm | 21/07/12

      Ultimately any marketing can backfire. Realistically, in a capitalist world no company is purely altruistic, as profit margins are the bottom line. When it comes to consumers only those financially secure enough can make a choice. If an individual boycotts one company, they better look at all the others they buy from too.

      Perchance my cynicism points out that it’s a slippery slope when applying ethics to capitalism if one wishes to remain consistent otherwise the whole capitalist society the Western world lives in is revealed in its hypocritical hedonism.

      I am thankful that we have freedom of press and irrespective of what we believe we can say it without persecution. So we can freely all have our prejudices (positive and negative) expressed to thousands of people, many who really just don’t care.

      And really, coffee buying choice and social media implications are first world problems. #justsaying

      Reply

    • MamaK says:

      03:11pm | 21/07/12

      I don’t patronise GJ’s simply because my daugher worked there when she was 15, and they tried to fire her because she was in a car accident and couldnt work a shift she was rostered for. I took offence at the way they treat young workers as disposable and easily replaceable, I believe an employee’s loyalty should be valued. They dismissed her unfairly and regretted it because then they met Mama smile  I’m not overly concerned about who they donate to or support, I am an advocate of same-sex marriage and I believe it will happen eventually, with or without the support of churches, cults, big business etc, I think things such as boycotts are a personal choice, an issue which makes one of us angry or passionate isn’t neccessarily going to affect the next person in the same way. By beating each other over the head with our personal beliefs we are really just acting in the same manner as the Hillsong people and other similar organisations are we not?

      Reply

    • Carolyn says:

      04:06pm | 21/07/12

      Sort of off topic, but sort of not…..(if that makes sense).

      Has anybody noticed that many charities are becoming more abrupt in their approach for donations and support?

      I mean, Won’t Somebody Think of the CHILDREN!!

      Last year there was a kid’s charity (which I cannot recall at this moment but am sure I’ll remember at 2am tomorrow), and the young girl in the advertisment stared down the camera and said “Give to the children!”. It truly came across as a ‘demand’ - there was no ‘PLEASE give to the children’, or ‘Give to our children, please’. It came across in such a way as to convey “well, it’s for CHILDREN, so OF COURSE you’ll give to us!!” I was half expecting her to say “We’ve already started garnishing your fortnightly pay for compulsary donations!” It really got my back up for some reason, so I made sure to give extra-extra to the RSPCA during their Million Paws Walk.

      Reply

    • mike says:

      01:04pm | 22/07/12

      boycott!

      Reply
 
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