1) Pretty much the only way to get the attention of corporate fat cats and the Senators and House members they own is to hit them in the pocket book. Remember when Sinclair Broadcasting was planning to air the anti-John Kerry "documentary" in 2004? The "sell Sinclair stock" meme was born and spread through the tubes and the stock started going down. Soon, plans for airing the documentary "changed." If a boycott of Whole Foods plan spreads, even if it is targeted for, say, the rest of August, they will notice. Similarly, a sell Whole Foods stock (WFMI) might also be effective.

2. My impression is that the customers of Whole Foods are left-leaning. If true, a boycott by even a quarter of Democratic customers would have a major impact.

3. While Whole Foods used to be a regional operation, it has now spread to 39 states. There are 3 locations in DC, 8 in Maryland and many more in Virginia. Congress members know of it and probably shop there.

4. If such a plan works, if the stock falls for example, the press will pick up on it and it will spread.

5. If the plan works it will be another example to corporate America that people want change. You would think nearly 70 million votes for Obama would have sent that message but I guess that's yesterday's news. We need to send a reminder and this could be a really good one.

6. It's a good opportunity to seek out local alternative sources for the stuff you might normally buy at Whole Foods. Farmers markets, etc. If you go to Whole Foods and stock up on essentials in anticipation of the boycott, it's not really going to hurt them is it?

There are downsides. For example, the people who work at Whole Foods could be negatively affected. That may argue for a time-specific boycott, or, alternatively, a stock-selling plan.

What do you think? Put your ideas in the comments. And if you have better Facebooking skills than mine or other viral messaging abilities, get to work.

Update: Help spread this in two ways: 1) There's a Facebook group supporting a Whole Foods Boycott at this link. (h/t CaptUnderpants in comments) and 2)If you're on Twitter, send a message about the boycott and use this short URL for the diary: http://bit.ly/...

Update 2 from the comments:

Whole Foods Boycott in Austin this Sunday (3+ / 0-) There's been a meetup group set up to boycott Whole Foods at their flagship location in Austin, TX. The boycott will be this Sunday at 12:00 noon. http://www.meetup.com/... I hope more meetups get set up across the country. Can someone please ask tremayne to update the post with a link to the boycott? by jchan on Thu Aug 13, 2009 at 01:34:09 PM PDT

Done.