FT Weekend Magazine - 10.19.2019

10 FT.COM/MAGAZINEOCTOBER19/

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Mumsnetand the

greatmarge boycott

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adaytimetelephonenumberandfull address

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ILLUSTRATIONBYLUCAS VARELA

ROBERTSHRIMSLEY

THENATIONALCONVERSATION

I

can’t believethey’resobitter.Type

“Flora” intothesearchbox on

theMumsnetwebsiteandenjoy

thefury.Regularsontheparents’

discussionforumareinarageafter

themakerofthebest-sellingmarge

saiditwasendingitsassociation–

that’sadstoyouandme–withthe

site.Yes;thefatisflying,orfleeing.

MumsnethasbeendeFlora-ed.

Mumsnet’s offencewasallowing

discussionoftransgenderissues.A

transactivistsawandwasoffended

bysomeoftheposts,tweetedoutan

angryresponseurgingfollowersto

boycottthemargeand,badabing,

thewebsitewasicedbyUpfield,

Flora’sDutchparent.Itturnsout

thatUpfieldtakeshumanrightsso

seriouslythatitcannolongerbe

associatedwithanysiteanywhere

thateverallowsanyonetosay

anythingthatupsetspeople.SoI

guessyoualsowon’tbeseeingany

associationwithFacebook,Twitter

oranysignificantnewsoutlets.

Nowangrymumsareretaliating,

withcallsfortheirownboycott.

Itraisestheuglyprospectofthe

wholethingbeingfoughtoutin

oursupermarketsasMumsnet

usersbulkuponBertolliwhile

transactivistsflocktoFlora.It’s

kickingoffinthewhitefatsand

lardsaisle.ThefloorsofTescowill

runyellowwithvegetableoil.

To beclear,Mumsnetitself

didnotsayanythingtransphobic

but,beingaplatformofdebate,it

allowedotherstodiscussgender

issuesinawaythatsomeone

decidedwastransphobic.Thesite

hasmoderatorstoremoveoffensive

postsbutUpfieldarguesthatthe

controlswerenoteffectiveenough.

Whetherthecommentswere

transphobicorjustremarkstrans

activistsdislikemaybearguable.

Ingeneral,mystartingpointis

thattranspeoplehavefacedyears

ofappallingabuseandprejudice

andsothecommunitycanhardly

beblamedforhittingbacknow

peoplehavestartedtolisten.Butit

isalsotruethatsometransactivists

havearecordofaggressivelytrying

tosilencelegitimatedebate.

Intruth,however,thisis

notreallyastoryabouttrans

activists.Theyjusthappentobe

thecampaignersinthisinstance.

Itcouldjustasequallyhavebeen

anotherminority-rightscampaignor

areligiousgroupor,infact,anyone

withanaxe togrind,afewhundred

followersonTwitterandalineto

StopFundingHate,acampaign

thatexiststopressureadvertisers.

Whatitis, isastoryofcorporate

capitulation.Itisataleofhowa

market-leadingfoodmanufacturer

fledatthefirstwhiffofgrapeshot.

PerhapsUpfieldreallybelievesitis

doingtherightthing.Perhapsithas

calculatedthatthetransactivists

andtheirsupportersweremore

likelytocarrythroughaboycott

thantheordinaryMumsnetusers.

Floracertainlymeetsoneofthe

criteriaforaboycottinthatthere

isareadysupplyofalternatives.

Butthistrendisgrowingand

advertisingboycottscanwork.

Fairenough;whyshouldn’t

peoplewithdrawsupportfrom

companiesthatdothingsofwhich

theydisapprove?Butsuccesses

meanthisformofactivismisonly

goingtogrow, whichmeansmore

andmorebusinessesaregoing

tofacecriticismandattack.

Advertisersaretheweaklinkfor

thosetargetingamediabusiness.

Mostadvertiserswantaquietlife,

wheretheonlyissuetalkedabout

istheircampaign.Floramaycare

deeplyabouttheissuesraised

oritmayjustcaredeeplyabout

gettingthehelloutofthisrow.

Eitherway, thetacticsworkbut

campaignersnowknowthatUpfield

canbepushedaroundwithjusta

fewsocial-mediaposts.Let’shope

environmentalcampaignersdon’t

findoutaboutitsuseofpalmoil.

Theconsequenceisthat

activistsscentweakness,andthe

boundariesofacceptablespeech

arebeingredefinedawayfrom

pureprejudicetowardsanything

overwhichagrouptakesoffence.

Iftheissuesdonotaffectthecore

business, mostcompaniesare

inclinedtoavoidcontroversy. But

businessesaregoingtofacealot

moreofthisandtheyaregoingto

needtobealotclearerintheirown

mindsaboutwhentheyaregoing

tostandfirmandwhentheyare

goingtofold.Asyet,theboycott

threatshavemostlybeenoneway;

thatmaynotbetrueforever.

Theproblemwiththiskindof

attack,asthemakersofFlorashould

understand,isitspreads.

In the latest transatlanticpodcastwe talk toMark Bradford,w ho represented the

US at the 2017Venice Biennale,aboutthe politics of abstract art. Plus:theFT’s

US mediacorrespondentonNetflixand the streamingwars;ft.com/culture-call Quizanswers

Thelinkwas adjectiv

es of temper

ature1.The Arctic Monk

eys(

Wha

teverPeople SayIAm, That’sWhatI’m Not

)2.Burning

Man 3.”Cool Britannia

”

4.

The SpyWho Came in from the Cold

5.Frozen

6. Hotmail


7. “The

warm South

”8.Baking

soda

9. Nippy10.

Parky

(Michael

Parkinson)

Picturequiz

Fiona Phillips

+Bruce

Willis =Fiona Bruce

Re “Poverty,priestsand

politics:whyPeronismisback

inArgentina”(October12/13).

I’ve beentoldthatthebestway

tounderstandtheArgentine

mentalityistoconsiderMaradona’s

twogoalsagainstEnglandinthe

1986WorldCup.AskArgentines

whichgoaltheypreferandmost

willsaythehand-of-Godgoaland

notwhatmay wellbethegreatest

goaleverscored.

CaptainSensibleviaFT.com

Re RobertShrimsley’scolumn

“Whymiddle-agedmenhate

GretaThunberg”(October12/13):

Istartedoutthinkingshewas

incrediblyannoyingandhave

comeroundtothinkingthatshe

isright,notannoyingatalland

probablyonthesideoftheangels.

SirComptonValenceviaFT.com

Itwasanabsolutepleasuretoread

“LeonCEOJohnVincent:whywing

tsunisbetterforbusinessthan

‘TheArtofWar’”(October12/13).

Itofferedadifferentperspective

forrunningabusiness,adifferent

mindsetformanagingtheself,

andhealthyfoodtotopitall.

TheBlackSheepof

BankStreetviaFT.com

At lastawell-balancedarticle

aboutoysterfarming(“Theproject

torestoreBritain’s native stocks”,

October12/13)–welldoneFT.

Therehasbeensomeridiculous

presscoveragerecentlytrying

tosensationaliserockoysters

as“alieninvaders”threatening

tooverrunthenative stocks.

Oysterfarmers,andmostofthe

scientistsworkinginthefield,

agreethatthetwospecieswill

happilyco-exist.Alloysters

aregoodfortheenvironment–

NaturalEnglandpleasenote.

MolluscanviaFT.com

[email protected]

@robertshrimsley

@EmmaLev_travOctober 13

I’mturning 50 in afewweeks. Iwas

copingfineuntil this doom-laden

piecefromSimonKupervia@FT