The far-right group One Million Moms was back in the national news last week, calling for yet another boycott of J.C. Penney, this time for running an ad in a Mother’sDay catalog that featured two women in a presumably same-sex marriage (they were wearing matching wedding rings), their children and a grandma.
This isn’t the first time OMM has called for a boycott of JCP. You might remember earlier in the yearwhen they did the same after the retailer hired Ellen DeGeneres — a lesbian in a same-sex marriage — as its spokesperson. That boycott apparently had no effect, and it’s doubtful the most recent one will either. Fact is, OMM’s membership is a smidge short of a million, more in the 40,000 range, according to estimates. J.C. Penney, meanwhile, has over 1,100 stores in the United States, and a catalog operation that serves millions.
You might also remember earlier this year when OMM called for a boycott of Toys R Us because the chain was selling “Archie” comic books that featured a same-sex marriage in the fictional community of Riverdale. There were dozens of stories about that imbroglio in the news, and not a single one of them mentioned OMM’s affiliation.
You really have to ask yourself why the networks and national print media treat the group’s pronouncements like a legitimate story without providing any background about the organization so listeners and readers can consider the source.
So here it is: One Million Moms and its brother organization, One Million Dads, are actually two websites created by the American Family Association, a national nonprofit organization with an annual budget of over $14 million that it uses to promote what it calls “conservative Christian values” and target what it deems “degeneracy” in the media through boycotts and email campaigns.
To join OMM, you go to their website and sign up to get email alerts about which companies they want you to boycott or email bomb. Yesterday, for example, in addition to J.C. Penney, supporters were asked to email Disney, Urban Outfitters and TruGreen, which produced a television weed-killer ad in which the actor almost said the f-word, but changed it at the last second.
“This is not enough to cover up what he meant to say,” the website (apparently speaking for all parents) opines. “Parents find this type of advertising inappropriate and unnecessary. Does TruGreen desire for our children to have dirty mouths? TruGreen may have thought this was humorous, but it is not cute when children go around saying this. All parents know that children repeat what they hear. Let’s stop this commercial dead in its tracks. Let TruGreen know their new ad is irresponsible.”
Over the last few years, the list of companies boycotted or targeted by the AFA and its shell organizations like OMM and OMD for various transgressions would take up more space than I’ve got for this column and includes everyone from Abercrombie & Fitch to Comcast, Crest Toothpaste, Ford, Hallmark Cards, Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble and the People’s Republic ofChina. Historically, theAFA’s rhetoric is so vitriolic that in 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center singled out the AFA for its consistent hate speech, and in 2010 upgraded its designation of the organization to a bona fide hate group for what a center spokesman called its “propagation of known falsehoods and demonizing propaganda.” So OMM isn’t a bunch of outraged mothers sitting around their living rooms organizing boycotts or writing messages because they’re offended by something they’ve seen on television or in some publication. The people setting the agenda are sitting in the head office of an organization labeled a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. You never hear that when CNN or Headline News legitimizes the organization by doing yet another straight news story about OMM or OMD threatening a retail chain— but it’s certainly something to keep in mind the next time one of these goofy boycott stories hits the news.
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There’s an old saying among alcoholics that one drink is too many, and 10,000 aren’t enough. If you’re a local businessman trying to keep the lights on in competition with huge, big-box retail chains, I imagine you’d say the same thing about Walmart.
Recently, the East Brunswick Planning Board approved a site plan presented by Golden Triangle developer Toll Brothers that would bring a 151,500-square-foot Walmart to the site to anchor the retail development complex. There’s been a guessing game in East Brunswick for some time about which big-box chain would move in, and now we know.
Which means that soon, East Brunswick residents will have their own Walmart if they want to deal with traffic on Route 18, or they can go a couple of miles down Route 1 to the Walmart in North Brunswick, or they can drive to theWalmart on Route 9 in Old Bridge, or, in a short time, to the Walmart that has been approved at Route 18 and Marlboro Road in Old Bridge. That’s four huge Walmart stores within a half-hour drive of any home in East Brunswick (there are currently 56 in the state). Discount nirvana!
Do we need that many Walmarts? Apparently, lots of people think we do. They wouldn’t keep building them if they weren’t profitable — and the towns say they’re good for the overall economy and tax ratables.
For my part, it won’t make a bit of difference tomy shopping habits, because I’ve never been in a Walmart, and don’t intend to in the future. I know too many mom-and-pop businessmen who’ve been forced out of their livelihoods over the years by Walmart, and I’ve got personal issues with many of the corporation’s human relations and business practices. This Mexican bribery business was just the icing on the cake.
Besides, I always get lost in big-box stores like Walmart and get distracted by the weird sartorial choices of the other patrons (if you’re gonnawear Jesus sandals, at least clip your toenails).
If you need a laugh today, check out www.peopleofwalmart.com, and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. Gregory Bean is the former executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers. You can reach him at [email protected].