Whole Foods Customers to Boycott over Healthcare Views
After an article in the Wall Street Journal published the opinion of John Mackey, the chief executive of Whole Foods Market, calls to boycott the store are growing more sophisticated and louder. In the article the executive criticized the healthcare plan that President Obama is proposing, as well as offered 8 alternatives of his own, including repealing all state laws that prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines, equalizing tax laws for health insurance benefits, and enacting Medicare and tort reform. Mackey also went as far as to outline their employee health insurance policy, which was revolting to many.
At first, individuals were prompted by the article to threaten that they will go shopping somewhere else. However, the Progressive Review is calling for more formal action - a boycott - and campaigns are showing up nearly everywhere, including social networking site Facebook. The hope of the protesters is to cut the success of the store, which is the 10th biggest food and drug store in the United States. Whole Foods reported $1.8 billion in sales for the second quarter of the year, which is actually a 2% increase from the quarter before.
By Saturday the online forum for the store had over 4,000 postings in regard to the issue, with one commenter thanking Mackey for making his political views public. They said that it was courteous of the executive, although it wasn’t the best business move. He now knows that the dollars he spends at Whole Foods will fund Mackey’s misguided conservative views, the commenter continued. He also added that he won’t buy anything at the store until the executive publicly apologizes and pledges that he will give his employees better benefits.