Do the political views of content providers/business owners affect your decisions to buy from them?
Recently I was shopping and accidentally was tp'd to the designer's studio, only to be confronted by a large Confederate flag hung on the wall. Knowing the secret meaning of this flag in the U.S. southern states, I immediately tp'd out of there and am reluctant to return or to buy anything from this designer.
Not just my sense of political correctness kicking in, but the fact that that flag stands for something very ugly for African Americans even today, thirty years after the civil rights movement, I just don't want to support Confederate ideals with my money or by recommending the designer to other residents (despite that I have purchased from this designer in the past and would have again if I hadn't seen what I saw).
Anyone have any thoughts on this? (this would have been a poll if I had known what I was asking here.)
Recently I was shopping and accidentally was tp'd to the designer's studio, only to be confronted by a large Confederate flag hung on the wall. Knowing the secret meaning of this flag in the U.S. southern states, I immediately tp'd out of there and am reluctant to return or to buy anything from this designer.
Not just my sense of political correctness kicking in, but the fact that that flag stands for something very ugly for African Americans even today, thirty years after the civil rights movement, I just don't want to support Confederate ideals with my money or by recommending the designer to other residents (despite that I have purchased from this designer in the past and would have again if I hadn't seen what I saw).
Anyone have any thoughts on this? (this would have been a poll if I had known what I was asking here.)
More thorough response to the OP
Not only do I sometimes make decisions about where I buy based on the look and feel of someone's ethic and behaviour, but I know my customers do too. I had a very funny (I thought) doctored painting of Phil meant to look like Jesus. I had it over a bunch of free offerings at my store. A customer whom I also do business with indicated to me that he found it distasteful and it prevented him from entering into the store further. I hadn't imagined that I would offend anyone, but his honest response was helpful for me because I was communicating something different to him than I had intended.
Hopefully, this is the case with the person with the confederate flag, but people who have those up should be aware (especially as business persons) that this kind of political branding comes with a risk. Many people will read that symbol as an alliegance of alignment with the likes of the KKK.
