Co op

[Theluggage15]

Sorry if there’s already a thread about this but a trans person called Lisa objected to the Co op advertising in the ‘transphobic’ Spectator. Someone from the co op of course apologised and said they would look at not advertising there again. It was brought to Andrew Neil’s attention (chairman of Spectator) and his reply on Twitter was

No need to bother, Co-op. As of today you are henceforth banned from advertising in The Spectator, in perpetuity. We will not have companies like yours use their financial might to try to influence our editorial content, which is entirely a matter for the editor.

Glad the Spectator are standing up to this rubbish.

[Beamur]

I think the grown ups at the co op will be smoothing things over with the Spectator

[TheFnozwhowasmirage]

Excellent sport! They really didn't see that coming. I have refused to shop at the 'ethical' co op since they refused to pay British farmers more than the price of production for milk. It appears that ethical and fair trade only count when it's not in this country. Seeing them getting their arse kicked has made my evening.

[Redshoeblueshoe]

I'm sure they will Beamur, but it will make a lot of big companies think about who is running their Twitter account

[Beamur]

Redshoeblueshoe
Totally. I hope so.
I think the immediate damage that careless Twittering can do really needs to be brought to heel by reputable companies.

[smithsinarazz]

Oh bloody, fucking hell. I'm a town planner with an interest in sustainable transport. So I follow a lot of men on Twitter. And, my God, they're all out tonight, patting them on the back for being on Co-op's side when they thought it was going to categorise discussions of gender as "hate", and foaming at the mouth now that it's not. And spitting feathers at me when I say that gender isn't real. Wankers. They just don't know how visible their own bloody Y chromosomes are, do they? I guess that's why they don't notice them on a bloke called Lisa who demands that a massive company changes its advertising strategy because she doesn't agree with something published alongside their adverts. Wankers, the lot of them. Rant over.

[thinkingaboutLangCleg]

I love the Co-op! I am so angry that some coward in their PR department has let it down like this. I’m sure this is a big thrill for Lisa.

[littlbrowndog]

My co op is shite but dead close

It’s full of bins of horrible stuff and you can hardly shuffle round it

Staff say it’s dreadful to work in and they can’t seem to keep staff

It really needs a makeover.

Loads of folks who are elderly use it as they can’t access big supermarket s.

They very rarely sell good vegetables like cabbage and cauliflower or carrots

It’s like bags of salad which go off soon as you look at them

Seems like they have lost their way in servicing local communities

[CasuallyMasculine]

DS worked in our local Co-op to save for a holiday before uni.

They paid well over minimum wage and did great staff reductions (on booze too). The staff were lovely too. It was a green local one rather than a blue national one, though.

[CasuallyMasculine]

And the in-store bakery is fab.

[smithsinarazz]

Yeah, I like the Co-op. I used to work in County Durham, which has a load of godforsaken - well, actually, mine-forsaken - villages with no shops, no bus service, nothing apart from the Co-op, which was always there, providing at any rate a reasonable supply of not entirely horrible food.

[RufustheSniggeringReindeer]

@OvaHere

It's interesting how one powerful man takes them to task and they backtrack. Thousands of women regularly take these woke brands to task over misogyny and rarely do they listen.

Absolutely

I do like andrew neil though

[ErrolTheDragon]

@Redshoeblueshoe

I'm sure they will Beamur, but it will make a lot of big companies think about who is running their Twitter account

Let's hope so. They need to get sensible grownups on the job.

And hopefully other organisations will take note of Neil's forthright approach.

[Redshoeblueshoe]

I really should have written "I hope it will make a lot of big companies think about who is running their Twitter account"

[Childrenofthestones]

Time to cancel the New Statesman and take on the Spectator

[powershowerforanhour]

I did rather enjoy Andrew Neil's interview with that wee American chap who called him a leftie.

[BatShite]

No need to bother, Co-op. As of today you are henceforth banned from advertising in The Spectator, in perpetuity. We will not have companies like yours use their financial might to try to influence our editorial content, which is entirely a matter for the editor.

Marvellous reply. Wish this would happen more often tbh.

[DeRigueurMortis]

This is good.

I don't care frankly that it took a man to call bullshit on this.

The Co-op have learned that this type of capitulation to identity politics is a PR disaster.

They won't make the same mistake again and I hope other companies are taking notes that "virtue" marketing is a very dangerous game (also citing the Body Shops gaff re: JKR).

AN has his faults but he knows his stuff (that interview with Corbyn was cringeworthy when AN tore him apart on his policies pre-election) and he's absolutely got his finger on the pulse of a lot of issues.

I'm sure editorial freedom was the main motivation but I'd also bet good money that he understands the issues here and is GC.

[BatShite]

[quote SunsetBeetch]Oh I see

"That’s escalated quickly and we want to set the record straight. The tweet sent yesterday was incorrect and does not reflect our advertising position. Our policy supports editorial freedom and you can read more about it here: coop.uk/3bs0jhB ^Fi

twitter.com/coopuk/status/1301880790700220419?s=20[/quote]
Interesting.

Should read full threads before commenting, years here and have not managed to get into that habit

Well I guess..admitting ones mistake is admirable. But..the fact that it happened is problematic in itself if the higher ups did not approve..surely..stuff like that has to be approved before tweeting? I cannot believe that companies just let random people tweet out their political opinions via the company accounts?!

[NiceGerbil]

One tweet. One. And they said, yes we'll not be advertising in the spectator any more.

I subscribed to spectator today.

The amount of women who have been life long lefty activists involved in feminism, LGB activism taking up with the times and spectator is massive.

The left has a serious problem when their natural supporters are driving this.

[NiceGerbil]

No. Don't care that they had a rethink after getting a bollocking from Andrew Neil.

One tweet. One. And they said right yes we're cancelling the spectator. Wtf. This should worry anyone.

[BacklashBacklash]

I'm struck by the fact that the original complaining tweet by Lisa was replied to with a "let us investigate further" tweet, and then it was the next day when the tweet saying "we'll be looking to not use this publication again" tweet came. Paraphrasing obviously. That to me isn't just an overenthusiastic social media staff member. Time has been taken to check, and the second reply (now deleted!) looks to have come from higher up with the detail it contains. It isn't a standard zealous-young-person reply.

[Skyliner001]

Thanks for the heads up love that the co-op are taking a stand and fighting Back against transphobia. It will make me more likely to use them, thanks again 😊

[Helmetbymidnight]

im a member of a group: stop funding hate' they (mostly men) were delighted now they are furious. they dont care what the so-called transphobia was - they just hate the co-op now.

[SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito]

@Skyliner001

Thanks for the heads up love that the co-op are taking a stand and fighting Back against transphobia. It will make me more likely to use them, thanks again 😊

*Coop still want to advertise in The Spectator (don't know if they'll be allowed)

* Coop still sell The Spectator in their stores (and the Telegraph and the Daily Mail, which I am sure you also find objectionable

* Coop backtracked on their 'taking a stand and fighting back against transphobia' tweets.

I think you need higher standards before declaring your 'love' for things.

[ArabellaScott]

This is what taking a stand and fighting back against transphobia looks like? Bit of a shit social movement, really.

I see in other news that Extinction Rebellion have attempted to stop newspapers being distributed because they don't like the way they report the news.

I had my reservations about ER; these attempts to control the narrative really piss me off. It's so PATRONISING. implying they know better than all the readers of Murdoch papers. Publish your own bloody papers, make your own points. Attempting to stop tabloid readers being polluted by wrongthink will not endear you to anyone!