last night on late night

Boycotting Is the New Civil War

With America in a state of epically heated division, it was only a matter of time before a spark came along to ignite this powder keg of rage. Now, it seems the conflict between liberals and conservatives has finally escalated into full-scale brand war. No, not real war, that would require going outside and talking to people and missing whole football games, but a brand war is the next best thing. All it requires you to do is just not buy an item that is somehow connected to political views you despise, or ceremonially burn said item for the social media likes if you so wish. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah unpacked the first three battles in this epic war of consumerism: the boycott of the movie First Man because there aren’t enough flags in it, the boycott of the New Yorker Festival and The New Yorker magazine because they invited Steve Bannon to headline, and the boycott (and burning) of Nikes people already own, because they saw a print ad they didn’t like. It’s almost enough to make you want to stop shopping and spending money on things entirely. Almost.

Boycotting Is the New Civil War