Why I don't shop in Boots

I've not shopped in Boots for ages, for reasons I will give in this post. Most of this information is available elsewhere on the web but it was only this morning, when I was accused of being grumpy for moaning about them that I decided to actually type something to justify my alleged grumpiness.

Firstly, the obvious, price. A box of Boots own brand Ibuprofen is just under a quid, I can get the same thing in my local supermarket for less than 30p. Ask any doctor and they'll tell you that ibuprofen is ibuprofen, and they're probably all made by the same company anyway.

Secondly, the tax issue. The current government are cutting things left right and centre (specifically within the NHS) while various big companies get away without paying much tax. Boots is one of them, thanks to their move to Switzerland a few years back. In fact, it's estimated that Boots' tax avoidance costs the UK economy £100 million a year ... imagine how many hospitals could be built or maintained with that money. Basically, if I lived next door to an individual who was screwing the system that I pay for through my taxes, I'd report the bastard. And as I can't really report Boots because the government already know (and evidently don't care) that they're tax-dodgers, I do the next best thing which is to make sure they get none of my money and encourage other decent taxpayers to think likewise.

Thirdly, they're bullshit peddlars. Fair enough, selling mythical crap like magnetic bracelets isn't really a crime, but the website quite clearly claims that the product "allows oxygen and our own natural pain and stress relief chemicals - endorphins, to flow more efficiently around the body, helping to combat free radicals, pain, stress and fatigue", when there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that this is true. In fact, in the US it's illegal to market magnets as medical devices for precisely that reason. As if this isn't enough, they also hide adverts within their "Web MD" site, a site supposedly offering medical advice, which in some cases is just plain dangerous. For a great example, see this page, a 'myth vs fact' type page arguing that sugar at breakfast time is actually perfectly harmless. The document, despite the small disclaimer saying the content is provided by their sponsor (who happens to be Kellogs, the breakfast cereal manufacturer), reads like a genuine medical guide, with references and everything. It's only when you actually bother to check the references that you discover that their main source is a paper by 'nutrition consultants' Sig-Nurture. The firm's website claims that their business is "to strengthen the evidence-base for your company’s policies, strategy, marketing and claims", and the paper being cited clearly states that the work was supported by a grant from the Kellog company. So much for actual science, then.

Don't get me wrong, there are other companies that probably deserve boycotting just as much as Boots. Vodafone recently had their tax bill written off, costing the taxpayer billions. Philip Green, CEO of the Arcadia Group which owns Top Shop, BHS, Dorothy Perkins and many other well-known high street chains, gets around his tax bill by having everything he runs channeled through his wife, who lives in Monaco. And at least Boots do actually sell real medicine among the new-age alternative homeopathic horseshit, unlike Julian Graves or Holland and Barrett. But I just feel that Boots have let me down, almost to the point of offending me, in many ways and they don't deserve my custom. If me giving a shit about the economy, science or the contents of my own wallet can be construed as grumpy, then so be it.