Bill Donohue comments on the Guinness boycott:
Three months ago today, on St. Patrick’s Day, we called for a boycott of Guinness. We did so because the night before the march in New York City, Guinness announced that it was pulling its sponsorship of the parade because gays were banned from marching (this is a lie).
It looks like the boycott is a success. We did an online survey of pub owners in many cities, and the results are as follows:
- 75 report a decrease in sales
- 24 report no difference in sales
- 4 report an increase in sales
From what we have determined, it appears that the decrease in sales is due to three factors: (a) there is a drop off in sales following St. Patrick’s Day (b) the increase in the sales of craft beers is hurting Guinness and (c) the boycott is working. Here is a sample of the responses:
- “April-May 2014: We sold 1,030 pints; April-May 2013: We sold 1,245 pints”
- “I have switched to other stouts”
- “Holding back on buying Guinness”
- “Our sales are down 3-4%”
- “I was gonna pull Guinness but instead I put Murphy’s in beside it”
- “I own 12 bars in Manhattan and I will let you know that we are disgusted with Guinness”
- “My Guinness sales have declined by about 40%”
- “I sold my stock in Diageo when I first heard the news”
We will notify officials at Diageo, the Guinness owner, of our results. We will also send them the names of thousands who signed our petition. Many thanks to everyone for participating in this boycott. Please keep it up. This concludes this phase of our campaign. Look for future announcements.
Contact Alix Dunn at Diageo: Alix.Dunn@diageo.com
