Not Buying Gas, Blah Blah Blah...

[jannieC]

I need to explain to someone the argument against this, only I can't remember what it is. Can someone help me out? What I'm saying is, there is something about this plan that <i>doesn't</i> work, I just can't remember what it is:

For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest
companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling
any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their
prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.
But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and
Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out at this
point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people.
I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us sends it to at least ten
more (30 x 10 =3D 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x
10 =3D 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group
of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers. If those
three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million
people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed
it..... THREE >>>>HUNDRED MILLION >>>>PEOPLE!!!

[paleshadow]

Well, here is what hoaxslayer.com had to say about it:




Oil Company Boycott Email

The rather tired piece of email activism included below seems to enjoy a resurgence and go the rounds of the world's inboxes at least once a year. There are several versions of the email, that all contain essentially the same message. At face value, the idea might sound plausible. However, there are some fatal flaws in the message. The price of gas at the pump is *not* exclusively controlled by oil companies, not even EXXON and MOBIL. Certainly, oil companies do have some control over the price of fuel but oil prices are subject to powerful economic factors and the intricate complexities of supply and demand. In any case, the big oil companies do not only supply gas to their own stations. They are likely to have a variety of markets for their products, including independent service stations. A more likely outcome of a large-scale consumer boycott of certain oil companies in favour of others is that gas prices will actually increase. That is, the oil companies that benefit from the boycott are likely to raise prices to reflect increased demand.

Furthermore, the author of the email seriously overestimates the potential "reach" of the message. Not everybody who receives it is going to pass it on to ten people. Many will forward it to a lot less than ten people. Many will forward it directly to the trash bin (good move!). Many emails that are sent will bounce or simply go unread. Reaching 300 million people in 8 days is simply unrealistic. Then again, so is the entire idea.

Probably the most compelling piece of evidence pointing to the failure of this "campaign" is the fact that it keeps resurfacing for another futile run. It obviously has not worked in the past, nor would I expect it to in the future.

[jannieC]

Thank you- that's what I was looking for!!! :)

[DavidMn]

Pretty simple. Either people are going to drive or they're not.

[SuzeQuze]

The reason to avoid Exxon/Mobile in particular is they still have not paid restitutions for the Valdez spill almost 2 decades ago. In other words they suck so I avoid them.