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[–]JRockPSU 1824 points1825 points  (18 children)

nonpartisan, free-market conservative

I'm gonna go ahead and stop you right there...

[–]Didaticdabler 467 points468 points  (5 children)

Check out the bio of the guy behind this influence campaign.

They don't even try to pretend.

[–]tifazee 214 points215 points  (1 child)

Looks like he’s also an immigrant - but since he’s white his crew is ok with it.

[–]patsniff 5 points6 points  (2 children)

As someone from Lawrence I’m sad to see he got a degree from KU, he’s terrible!

[–]Extension-Badger-958 83 points84 points  (6 children)

A liberal conservative? These write themselves

[–]kazzin8 996 points997 points  (163 children)

For those too lazy to click on the link but still want to feel their blood pressure spike:

“Best Buy has partnerships with and contributes to organizations and activists that promote the practice of gender transition surgeries on minors and evangelize gender theory to minors. Why are Best Buy shareholders funding the proliferation of an ideology seeking to mutilate the reproductive organs of children before they finish puberty?” the proposal, signed by Ethan Peck, an associate at the NCPPR’s Free Enterprise Institute, states. “This contentious and vast disagreement between radical gender theory activists and the general public has nothing to do with Best Buy selling electronics.”

In an email dated Jan. 17, Peck told Best Buy’s attorneys that his organization “will withdraw its proposal if Best Buy were to end its partnerships with and contributions to” eight different LGBTQ nonprofits and initiatives, which he refers to as “predatory butchers” in his email. These groups include The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization; SAGE, which advocates on behalf of LGBTQ elders; and GLAAD, an LGBTQ media advocacy group.

Peck did, however, leave the Human Rights Campaign off this list, stating in his email that “we understand that it’s unrealistic for Best Buy to leave HRC in the near future because of their political clout.”

“We hope you take this off-ramp for the sake of shareholders,” Peck wrote in the Jan. 17 email. “Were Best Buy to agree to such a compromise with us, we will not make a splash about it.”

[–]Keica 789 points790 points  (1 child)

Oh, they’re leaving the Human Rights Campaign alone for the near future, how thoughtful of them.

Thank you for the blood pressure spike, awful move by Best Buy.

[–]TBSchemer 134 points135 points  (6 children)

They have a problem with The Trevor Project?

What the fuck?

I don't give charity often, and I'm a pretty skeptical person when it comes to everybody's pet causes, but The Trevor Project is one organization that I happily throw money at.

The Trevor Project’s mission is to end suicide among LGBTQ young people.

The Trevor Project is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people. We provide information & support to LGBTQ+ young people 24/7, all year round.

One accepting adult decreases the risk of suicide by 40% for LGBTQ young people. We provide LGBTQ youth with 24/7 crisis counseling via phone, text, and chat.

Their donations page

[–]girlppluv 52 points53 points  (1 child)

You act as if they are doing it out of legitimate concern to begin with lol. The "protecting kids from mutilation!!" thing is clearly a smokescreen.

I doubt these shareholders have an ounce of concern for children in general, much less trans kids.

[–]VegasKL 8 points9 points  (0 children)

These types of people are more likely to fund campaigns that would encourage suicide amongst the LGBTQ+ community.

[–]214ObstructedReverie 11 points12 points  (0 children)

They have a problem with The Trevor Project?

What the fuck?

Awful people like this don't consider trans people to be people.

[–]mcslender97 23 points24 points  (2 children)

Saw Ethan Peck and had to do a double take; same name as the guy who currently plays Spock

[–]jmbolton 79 points80 points  (4 children)

  1. Fuck Shareholders.
  2. Classic dickless Peck
  3. Fuck Shareholders.

I’m really, really sick of hearing about the plight of the helpless shareholders. Last time I checked shareholders don’t dictate company policy. They’re meant to simply feed off of dividends like sucker fish. Unless you own enough shares to constitute a majority stake, shut the fuck up and collect your free money.

[–]jfchops2 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Last time I checked shareholders don’t dictate company policy

Shareholders of every single public company in America vote on corporate policy matters every year and also have the power to seat board members which agree with their vision for the company

Buy a share of any random company you like. You'll get an email telling you how to cast your votes when that time comes

[–]xool420 12 points13 points  (5 children)

Wild how they consider “suicide prevention” a bad thing

[–]RichardTheHard 22 points23 points  (2 children)

Bet those same people are very down for circumcision though. Literal genital mutilation of an infant.

[–]eccentricbananaman 6 points7 points  (1 child)

proliferation of an ideology seeking to mutilate the reproductive organs of children

I wonder what their thoughts on circumcision are.

[–]Beer-Me 5845 points5846 points  (378 children)

I don't know about everyone else, but I'm glad Best Buy did this.

They’re definitely doing their part to save me from buying shit I really don't need from their store.

Thanks, Best Buy!

[–]HelloMyNameIsLeah 1923 points1924 points  (277 children)

Yea, they are now on the list with Home Depot, Chik-fil-A, and Hobby Lobby.

[–]Vamparisen 700 points701 points  (37 children)

Hobby Lobby? We call it the Crafty Christian

[–]Edythir 51 points52 points  (0 children)

So christian that apparantly they do not put barcodes on their stuff because "the number of the beast" is meant to regulate and control commerce which is exactly what a barcode does. So instead they put a unit number on their products which you need to input in by hand, which is example what a barcode does, except with ink and lasers.

[–]elconquistador1985 39 points40 points  (1 child)

Hobby Lobby's Hamurabi Robbing Hobby, after their antiquities thefts.

[–]Qingdao243 324 points325 points  (8 children)

Krafty Khristian

[–]AMeanCow 16 points17 points  (12 children)

I love walking through Hobby Lobby and just basking in the walls and walls of Christian wall hangings and kitchen signs like "Jesus bless this mess" and "Families that Pray Together Stay Together" (unless it's Sunday and it's closed with the performative sign on the front door that their employees are "worshiping.")

It's really weird, it feels weird, I do not like religion being such a central focus in a fucking craft store. I am going in there to buy paint and pencils, why do I need so much Christianity along with it.

[–]AdventurousCat8 59 points60 points  (1 child)

Try to shop at Michael’s instead if you can

[–]thedeuceisloose 18 points19 points  (1 child)

The no bar codes thing is legitimately funny and makes stealing from them so simple

[–]CabbieCam 22 points23 points  (4 children)

Don't shop there, you're supporting an organization that lobbies against LGBT+ interests.

[–]Nephroidofdoom 83 points84 points  (8 children)

Don’t forget Walgreens

[–]Dymonika 19 points20 points  (7 children)

What did they do?

[–]Zandolza 189 points190 points  (179 children)

Oh no what did Home Depot do? I liked them…

[–]bytethesquirrel 139 points140 points  (19 children)

The founder who isn't involved with the company in any capacity is hardcore MAGA.

[–]Casanova_Fran 46 points47 points  (13 children)

Hes still getting paid, a quick google search shows he owns a nice percentage of stock

[–]Top_Reveal_847 186 points187 points  (3 children)

You know another co founder is Arthur Blank and he's a Biden guy right? The company itself hasn't done anything political.

If you start trying to keep your money from Republican shareholders in any company you're going to run out of things to buy real quick

[–]AsamaMaru 127 points128 points  (7 children)

If you base your judgments on a company on who owns stock, you'd have to boycott pretty much every company.

[–]FerricNitrate 118 points119 points  (8 children)

Home Depot is fine, it's the cofounder that hasn't been affiliated with the company in 20 years that's awful. (Honestly the number of people here spreading the misinformation that it's the company itself and not just the long-separated cofounder somehow makes it seem like a malicious campaign by Lowes. Which would be stupid, but only half as stupid as the people spreading misinformation without doing a 2 second Google search to even know what they're talking about)

[–]Squirll 415 points416 points  (15 children)

Its even grosser to me reading the email. A conservative think tank writes email correspondence explaining how many shares they have and threatening to make drama at a shareholders meeting (using explicit and violently wrong language) unless their needs are met?

So its blackmail. Best Buy let themselves be blackmailed by a conservative hate group under threat of a blow to their stock prices.

How the fuck is this legal?

[–]klingma 107 points108 points  (10 children)

Because a shareholder is legally an owner of the company and they have rights including telling management, who serve at the pleasure of the shareholders, what to do or else get fired. 

Making something like this by the group, as abhorrent as it is, illegal would fundamentally change the shareholder - management relationship and make stock ownership far less attractive to people both sides of the aisle. 

Before you say anything - your proposal is a double-edged sword because the same rights that allowed this group to make their proposal also allow shareholders to make proposals related to environmental concerns & disclosures, push for votes against directors, etc. 

You'll lose that with your proposal. 

[–]lew_rong 4 points5 points  (0 children)

A conservative think tank writes email correspondence explaining how many shares they have and threatening to make drama at a shareholders meeting (using explicit and violently wrong language) unless their needs are met?

These people are called sokaiya in Japan. They disrupt shareholder meetings to intimidate or blackmail the target corporation. They're commonly affiliated with yakuza. Good to know Republicans are diving even deeper into organized crime tactics.

[–]Myfourcats1 38 points39 points  (4 children)

The lack of inventory has been what keeps me out of their stores.

[–]jcutta 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Legit, needed to grab new headphones for my son and they had $400 Sony ones and $10 off brand jawns that should have been at 5 below. Ended up getting some skullcandy ones at target next door. Fuckin waste of a store nowadays.

[–]ishitar 136 points137 points  (4 children)

Christians have taught me that being LGBTQ+ is heroic, and also that abortion is the only moral choice. Thanks, Christians!

[–]Kummabear 43 points44 points  (16 children)

Don’t understand the point of Best Buy when everything they sell is online somewhere else

[–]Bromanzier_03 33 points34 points  (4 children)

Same now that I know this. I’m fortunate to have a Microcenter within an hour drive

[–]timpdx 10 points11 points  (1 child)

At Microcenter rn

[–]Dukeish 36 points37 points  (2 children)

Best Buy - you really think this is going to work out well for you? You’re a dying brick and mortar store with less and less relevance and you just kicked a giant wasp nest to appease a vocal minority. Enjoy your evening faster fall to the bottom you donkey

[–]Spocks_Goatee 7 points8 points  (0 children)

They already lost a huge percentage of customers when they quit selling movies and music.

[–]Putrid_Weather_5680 60 points61 points  (0 children)

I had a trans friend who worked at Best Buy for years when he came out. He said it was the most transphobic and toxic work environment he would ever work in. I know he got a lawyer and they settled with him, but they were doing some really shitty stuff.

Wouldn’t let him change his name tag, wouldn’t let him use the men’s bathroom, wouldn’t correct any colleagues who misgendered him (intentionally). There was a ton of bullying from leadership AND HR. It was fucking horrible. I was so happy when he got a new job.

[–]KFCConspiracy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah... I had started going there because the prices are basically the same now and I can get stuff same day. Now I won't

[–]Jack_Kentucky 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Right? I have been going out of my way to continue to support Best Buy to help out brick and mortar stores, even when it cost a little more. But thanks to this AMAZING move, I'll no longer be making that effort. Thanks Best Buy!

[–]LawNo9454 1754 points1755 points  (76 children)

It's alarming that any company would believe blatant lies and misinformation presented by conservative groups it's just as much a condemnation of their gullibility as hatred.

[–]jimbo831 184 points185 points  (23 children)

Best Buy doesn’t believe any of these things. They don’t care about what’s true. They believe that this group could threaten their stock price and that’s all that matters to them. They will happily throw their LGBTQ employees under the bus to keep the stock price up.

[–]thesaddestpanda 88 points89 points  (19 children)

This isn't really true, or at least its only a partial explanation. Most execs, billionaires, wealthy, are right-wingers and agree with these politics.

Its actually detrimental to an organization to be pro-bigotry because then talented people leave and recruiting is harder. Protests from the LBGTQ community can be equally harmful to stock prices.

A lot times this is done for ideological reasons because leadership agrees with it. Before modern DEI, these companies would be openly discriminatory against hiring minorities, women, etc. That wasn't for "stock prices." It was done because leadership and staff subsribe to the values of bigotry. Now that the US is making a right-wing move, all this stuff is coming back.

[–]johnnybgooderer 33 points34 points  (5 children)

Most wealthy people I know don’t care about the culture wars. They are socially liberal, but conservative when it comes to basically anything that stops business from doing whatever they want.

[–]Valleyfairfanboy[S] 79 points80 points  (21 children)

They believe in stock prices – time to start shorting Best Buy...

[–]SnepButts 1519 points1520 points  (68 children)

Fuck Best Buy for doing this, fuck conservatives, and fuck anybody against the Trevor Project. I hope the people that decided and pushed for this need a similar hotline someday and it is not available for them.

[–]Valleyfairfanboy[S] 600 points601 points  (9 children)

Yes its honestly heartbreaking that they are caving so easily – The Trevor Project is such a great resource and people attacking it are disgusting.

[–]the_gaymer_girl 484 points485 points  (2 children)

Peck did, however, leave the Human Rights Campaign off this list, stating in his email that “we understand that it’s unrealistic for Best Buy to leave HRC in the near future because of their political clout.”

They straight up admitted they’re only going after organizations that are small enough that they can bully.

[–]The_Voice_Of_Ricin 120 points121 points  (0 children)

Yeah this is extremely telling.

[–]SnepButts 243 points244 points  (0 children)

Don't let any of them lie. They want us queer folk to kill ourselves. That's literally the only reason to be against the project.

[–]SinkHoleDeMayo 55 points56 points  (3 children)

Because they're based in MN, they're going to get a huge amount of flak for it. Could see some employees threaten to quit or people just walk out en masse.

[–]SnepButts 66 points67 points  (1 child)

They should. Being a bigot needs to hurt. Kneeling to bigots should hurt just as bad.

[–]kehlarc 28 points29 points  (2 children)

Someone going against The Trevor Project is just shit. Yeah let all these kids kill themselves, the same loving conservatives who are all about saving the unborn.

[–]GlitteringHighway 205 points206 points  (5 children)

nonpartisan, free-market conservative think tank,” lol

[–]buntopolis 41 points42 points  (0 children)

Masters of Doublespeak.

[–]anoldoldman 87 points88 points  (2 children)

Why does a "Non-partisan think tank" own stock in a company?

[–]The_Great_Nobody 21 points22 points  (0 children)

For the same reasons Republicans who are pro oil "honestly own shares in oil".

[–]Ahstruck 427 points428 points  (28 children)

I screen all my purchases to make sure they do not come from Best Buy.

[–]fernatic19 13 points14 points  (2 children)

Best buy doesn't have anything worth buying anyway. Everything they sell is available at 12+ other stores at cheaper prices.

They're just a phone store now with a lot of wasted space.

[–]justletmetypedammit 115 points116 points  (4 children)

“In an email dated Jan. 17, Peck told Best Buy’s attorneys that his organization “will withdraw its proposal if Best Buy were to end its partnerships with and contributions to” eight different LGBTQ nonprofits and initiatives, which he refers to as “predatory butchers” in his email.”

“These groups include The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization; SAGE, which advocates on behalf of LGBTQ elders; and GLAAD, an LGBTQ media advocacy group.”

dude I am so fucking tired

[–]spidermanngp 31 points32 points  (1 child)

Absolutely fucking disgusting.

[–]OCedHrt 10 points11 points  (0 children)

ideology seeking to mutilate the reproductive organs of children before they finish puberty

The ideology practiced by religion for millennia and they have no issues with that.

[–]BenjTheMaestro 46 points47 points  (2 children)

I just wrapped up a 15 year career with them, and tbh, the company was much more inclusive than others, even before I began. This is a bummer to read. Not much actually happened yet, but this is typically how shitty future policy is born.

[–]ChargerRob 327 points328 points  (12 children)

Hedge funds are predominantly right wing crazies that no one talks about even though they raise prices and blame it on government.

[–]PornstarVirgin 109 points110 points  (10 children)

Yup, who know they profit off Republican policies at the small small cost of fucking everyone else. Wallstreet policies are cancer. People like Ken Griffin who steal money from pensions and donate millions to people like Desantis so he can try to become treasury secretary

[–]stephenmwithaph 44 points45 points  (7 children)

Ken Griffin? The guy who allegedly lied under oath about his role in the blatant attack on the so-called "free" market on January 28th, 2021 when they stopped everyday people from buying a stock they liked?

And then he donates to DeSatan and moves his whole business to Florida to get in good with him

Fuck that guy

Also he's probably abusive to his wife

[–]SanchoMandoval 154 points155 points  (6 children)

the center said it would make “a splash” unless the consumer electronics giant moved in favor of its demands

And they call liberals the "woke mob" while actively threatening to Bud Light companies if they don't bow to their political demands.

[–]Klaus0225 54 points55 points  (0 children)

They embrace cancel culture more than anyone else.

[–]OptimusSublime 182 points183 points  (17 children)

Best buy is a dinosaur of a store and they can go bankrupt for all I care. Never forget that they sold memory and HDMI cables at astronomical mark-ups because their customer base aren't technologically savvy.

[–]klingma 20 points21 points  (2 children)

Lol...oh the days of the $100+ RocketFish HDMI cables. They managed to convince everyone they were audiophiles & pro's who could absolutely tell the difference between the generic $10 cable and the Rocketfish cable. 

[–]End3rWi99in 52 points53 points  (9 children)

They are nowhere near going bankrupt. Best Buy is one of the very few brick and mortar electronics stores that figured out a repeatable formula for success, and they are one of the most cash rich retail companies on the planet. Just don't shop there if you don't like what they do.

[–]relevantelephant00 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Hell at this point Im rooting for them to go bankrupt.

[–]Politicsboringagain 6 points7 points  (1 child)

I use to be in there at least a few times a month. Now I don't even buy from it a few times a year now.

[–]jwilphl 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I stopped buying from them when they made the bonus points exclusive to credit card holders.  Now I can buy electronics anywhere and it doesn't really matter.

[–]feralraindrop 34 points35 points  (2 children)

The conservative cosmos is expanding from DeSantis shaping Florida into a MAGA-verse state, Trump's Supreme Court, Qatar investing 50 million in Newsmax, other foreign powers tilting public opinion, Musk dousing social media filters, "thinktanks" and super-pacs all working together to make America what a minority of extremists want it to be. These people are coming for Democracy, your personal freedoms and they are coming hard. You better vote.

[–]SithLordSid 6 points7 points  (1 child)

Nothing like conservative hate. And what’s up with that thing on the guys bio - non-partisan, conservative think tank? What’s non-partisan about this? You’re trying to kill people that you don’t like.

[–]BrainJar 110 points111 points  (7 children)

mutilate the reproductive organs of children.

You mean like circumcision? These people are just sooooooo fucking hypocritical!

[–]PeakSalty9824 23 points24 points  (0 children)

yea its very telling that those hat scream about that kind of thing avoid bringing up circumcision like the plague.

[–]evangelionmann 5 points6 points  (0 children)

to be fair... you should never donate through a box store anyways. when you do, they take the tax cut from your donation. donate yourself. you do not need to donate through a big box store.

[–]Flufferpope 16 points17 points  (1 child)

I had a very large purchase to make this week, just moved into a new apartment. I'm about to spend a few thousand dollars on the electronics I need. I WAS planning to spend that at the nearby Best buy.

Welp, I guess I'm not anymore.

[–]GrimJudas 30 points31 points  (1 child)

Conservative is code for Nazi.  Call them what they are.

[–]Modern_Bear 27 points28 points  (2 children)

Best Buy offered to screen donations from its employee resource groups going to LGBTQ causes following pressure from a conservative think tank that holds shares in the company, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made public this week.

I am now going to screen who I buy electronics from, to keep my money from going to a company that is caving to bigots. See what happens when you suck as a company?

[–]Murky_Jello7882 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Even better, by not shopping at Best Buy, you harm their shareholders, like the NCPPR. It’s a win-win at this point to shop somewhere else.

[–]Valleyfairfanboy[S] 123 points124 points  (5 children)

This is honestly disgusting. Thank goodness there's a microcenter near me

[–]LunarMoon2001 42 points43 points  (0 children)

Microcenter is my goto. They are very aggressive in their pricing compared to even Amazon, and their in house brand stuff are great.

[–]AMonitorDarkly 48 points49 points  (0 children)

Another reason not to give business to this garbage company.

[–]bigfunone2020 41 points42 points  (2 children)

Yes let’s alienate a reliable dual high income customer base to appease the Nazi party.

[–]buntopolis 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Missing out on those DINK Dollars!

[–]My_Penbroke 19 points20 points  (1 child)

Time for liberal people to take a page from conservative’s book and get hyper-sensitive and cry whenever a company does something MAGA-linked or adjacent. Put these companies in a no-win position—go woke, go broke; go against woke, also go broke.

Seriously though no one cries like a MAGA Republican

[–]AntoniYOwned 14 points15 points  (2 children)

So Newegg it is for tech

[–]jeepster98 15 points16 points  (2 children)

Well they have one less customer now.

[–]dudeitsmeee 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Anyone who acquiesces to conservatives ends up on my shit list

[–]Fap_Doctor 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Time to buy elsewhere.

[–]think_up 17 points18 points  (2 children)

Best Buy has officially abandoned the LGBTQ community.

Ugh.

[–]the_gaymer_girl 54 points55 points  (12 children)

In some of the last correspondence in the filing, Best Buy noted that it allows its employee resource groups “some discretion to directly support organizations of their choosing” but added that “any such contributions would be screened to ensure they do not advocate or support the causes or agendas you have identified as concerning.” One of the causes the NCPPR cited was transgender care for minors, which the group falsely described as an attempt to “mutilate the reproductive organs of children.”

Is this not a First Amendment violation? Employees can donate their own money as a person to causes they find important.

[–]Lurkadactyl 44 points45 points  (2 children)

Likely this is about a charity matching plan, where if for example an employee donates $20 to an approved charity they will also donate $20. It’s somewhat common. Nothing stops employees from donating on their own.

[–]MunkSWE94 15 points16 points  (1 child)

I'm no legal eagle but 2 things I remember reading over the years.

  1. First amendment makes sure the government cannot force you what to publish and say.

  2. I'm trying to remember a case where some dude tweeted something and was fired. He sued and won because nowhere in the tweet did he mention the company or that the company agreed with him. I think it also had something to do with companies can't dictate what you say or write outside of work hours.

There's probably someone out there that knows more and will correct me.

[–]EastClintwood89 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I stopped shopping at best buy when they announced they would no longer carry physical media for movies. 

[–]queerl3ear 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Sigh, another company bending over to conservative backlash. Same as target, same as bud light. No backbone.