An original idea – May 28, 2004

A reader named Jean-Marc Facchinetti, a doctor from Cannes, came up with an original idea. What is, after all, the last line of defense for people who feel “pressured” by high prices? The answer: boycotting a consumer product. But he immediately noticed that there’s one product that seems immune to such measures: gasoline, which is absolutely essential for consumers. Nothing prevents gas prices from being raised indefinitely. Motorists know that gas station attendants and fuel delivery workers have nothing to do with this; they merely earn a meager living by serving customers. Those responsible for setting prices seem untouchable, and the only form of protest left is mere grumbling—which politicians and oil companies completely ignore. There must be psycho-sociological studies aimed at determining how much fuel prices can rise before people start to object. After all, it’s essentially a tax, a levy, and extra profit for oil companies. In these distribution channels, aside from minor discounts offered in supermarkets, we’re basically dealing with a quasi-monopoly situation. The posted prices at highway entrances are laughable; no one would ever think this represents genuine competition. Facchinetti’s idea is to suggest boycotting, over a long period of time, not petroleum products themselves, but a randomly chosen distributor, like SHELL-ESSO, since they belong to the same group. I find this idea interesting. All you need to do is keep this in mind. Near your workplace or home, find a gas station that’s anything but Shell-Esso. On highways, act accordingly. The idea is to pick a random target.

People could get used to this practice, leading to a gradual decline in profits for such companies. If this trend became widespread, one can imagine the panic within such powerful corporations.

– Why us, and not others?

Probably the only way for consumers to express their displeasure at being exploited like this.

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