A TACTIC WITH MIXED RESULTS

Here are the targets and the issues that prompted some well-known boycotts.

ABC: Television violence

In May of this year, ABC pulled the sequel to “Crimes of Passion” and said it was rethinking its policy on so-called reality programming after the show failed to get advertiser support. Pressure groups gained a stronger voice during the 1988-89 television season by taking their complaints about television content directly to advertisers.

Adolph Coors Co.: Union organizing efforts

The AFL-CIO reached an agreement in August, 1987, to end its 10-year boycott against Coors beer, with the company agreeing not to interfere with the union’s campaign to organize workers. The company also agreed to build a new brewery in Virginia under a union contract.

Adolph Coors Co.: Minority investment

Coors stepped up its efforts to help the minority community following a controversial speech delivered by Chairman and Chief Executive William K. Coors to a group of black Denver business executives in February, 1984, that renewed calls for a boycott. In September, 1984, the company agreed to set aside about $650 million over the next five years for minorities, in the form of wages, procurements from minority-owned businesses and contributions to minority-oriented organizations.

American Farm Bureau, Produce Marketing Assn., United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Assn.: City of San Francisco

Furious about San Francisco’s official decision two months ago to endorse a 4-year-old boycott of table grapes, in February of this year these groups reacted by withdrawing their convention business from the city. The San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that it will cost the city $60 million in lost convention business over the next several years.

Avon Products, Benetton, Kenner Toys: Animal testing

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, targeted these companies for their use of animals in product testing. All three companies have since announced that they will halt animal testing.

Carl’s Jr.: Abortion

Pro-choice groups targeted the fast-food restaurant chain late last month to protest financial support given to anti-abortion efforts by founder Carl N. Karcher.

City of Hope: Labor dispute

Local 30 of AFL-CIO recently settled a three-year contract dispute involving 300 clerical workers, which has hampered the City of Hope’s fund raising efforts. Rallies, ads and word-of-mouth contacts that were part of the AFL-CIO boycott cut deeply into City of Hope money sources, according to the union.

Domino’s Pizza: Baseball stadium

On March 19, the Tiger Stadium Fan Club called for a boycott of the Domino’s Pizza chain owned by Detroit Tigers’ owner Thomas Monaghan because of Monaghan’s support for the construction of a new, open-air stadium. The fans wish to preserve the present stadium.

Fox Broadcasting: Television sex and violence

In a letter-writing campaign that started in January, Detroit homemaker Terry Rakolta asked advertisers to boycott Fox’s “Married. . . With Children,” which contains scenes she considers to be “soft-core pornography.” Rakolta had also criticized ABC’s “thirty-something” for a scene involving a discussion of birth control. Rakolta has since appeared publicly moderating her stance on television programming.

Fur Industry: Animal rights

For most of the 1980s, animal rights activists have mounted a campaign to persuade consumers not to buy fur products. U.S. sales have remained at the 1986 level despite predictions of increased sales by the fur industry. The industry claims the protest movement has had no effect on sales, instead attributing the leveling off to milder winters and the aftereffects of the October, 1987, stock market crash. The protest has been exported to other countries with mixed results.

Mennen Co., Clorox Corp.: Television sex and violence

In July, a coalition of fundamentalist Christian leaders organized a one-year boycott of Mennen and Clorox for sponsoring television programs that the group claims contain “high incidents of sex, violence, profanity and anti-Christian stereotyping.” The group also asked some 500 companies that regularly advertise on network television not to sponsor certain programs during the May sweeps period. Clorox and Mennen were singled out because they ignored the group’s requests.

South Africa: Apartheid policy

More than half of the 300 U.S. companies operating in South Africa in 1984 have pulled out amid intense anti-apartheid pressures and concern about the country’s economic future.

Stroh Brewery Co.: Timber industry

Northwest loggers, upset with an upcoming National Audubon Society television special on the region’s ancient forests, threatened this week to boycott the brewery’s products. Stroh’s withdrew its $600,000 in financing for the special but Stroh Chairman Peter W. Stroh insisted that the action had nothing to do with a threatened boycott. A spokesperson for the Detroit-based brewer said the funding review was prompted by cost-cutting efforts. Environmental groups have filed suit to try and save old growth forests as habitat for the Northern spotted owl.

United Farm Workers: Pesticides, union organizing efforts

Caesar Chavez ended his 36-day fast on Aug. 22, 1988, seeking to end the use of five pesticides that he said endanger farm workers, consumers and the environment. The latest grape boycott, launched in 1985, appears to have had little impact on the soaring sales of table grapes which, according to the California Table Grape Commission, has tripled during the last decade.

After a decade of strikes and boycotts by the UFW, the state Legislature enacted the Agricultural Labor Relations Act in 1975, which gave farm workers a formal means of settling grievances and the right to secret-ballot elections to decide which, if any, union should represent them. The UFW has no contracts with grape growers and only around 80 contracts throughout the country.

Universal Pictures: Movie content

Universal Pictures’ release of the controversial movie “The Last Temptation of Christ” in August, 1988, prompted demonstrations calling for boycotts of the movie and all MCA enterprises. A number of movie theaters across the country refused to show the movie, which drew criticism from Christian, Jewish and Muslim groups.

Video stores offering X-rated movies: Pornography

On July 11, 1987, Archbishop Roger M. Mahoney of Los Angeles urged consumers to stop patronizing video stores that sell or rent X-rated movies. This boycott expanded Mahoney’s fight against pornography that began in 1986 when he asked Roman Catholics to picket 7-Eleven and other stores that carry Playboy, Penthouse and other sexually oriented magazines.