On boycotts

This week, the president and the first daughter each took some time out of their schedules to [illicitly]( pose with beans. That these pictures, which exude big Price Is Right energy, appear to be an ethics violation is but a bay leaf in this complicated stew of corporate politics and consumer activism. After Goya CEO Robert Unanue praised Trump as “a builder,” offended shoppers responded with withheld sales and hashtags like #goyaway. Unanue, in turn, called the boycott a “suppression of speech.” (The First Amendment does not actually comment on which brand of beans you have to buy.) On a broader level, as Terry Nguyen [explains](, this is just the latest skirmish in the battle over how best to express distaste with a corporation’s political stances — are boycotts fair game, and do they even work? — and a small part of the even larger, fully inescapable war over who is able to exert power over whom and how in the modern age. —[Meredith Haggerty](, deputy editor of The Goods Boycotts show us what matters to Americans [canned beans on shelves]( Chris Delmas/AFP/Getty Images In his latest [Instagram photo](, President Donald Trump is flashing an enthusiastic double thumbs-up, while seated behind a row of neatly lined Goya Foods products: some red kidney beans, adobo seasoning, canned white beans, coconut milk, and chocolate wafers. The president’s pictorial endorsement was posted nearly a day after Ivanka Trump, his daughter and senior adviser, similarly tweeted out a photo of a can of Goya black beans alongside a somewhat eerie, [sponcon-like caption](: “If it’s Goya, it has to be good.” The images — which have drawn criticism for possibly [violating government ethics standards]( — are the latest efforts by the Trump family to exhibit support for Goya Foods, which is facing [calls for a boycott]( after its CEO publicly praised Trump at a White House event on July 9. [Read the full story on Vox ]( Money Talks: The couple navigating child care in the pandemic Evan and Sarah are attempting to balance work, child care, and public health concerns as they stare down a long summer. [Read the full story ]( College towns without college students have small businesses struggling Restaurants and stores that rely on college students are trying everything from takeout to GoFundMes, and some schools and alumni are pitching in. [Read the full story ]( More good stuff to read today - [Students are using Instagram to reveal racism on campus]( - [Virtual dating is booming, but daters say it’s not enough]( - [A therapist on what it’s like to work with patients during the pandemic]( - [How cakes in disguise got out of hand]( - [This week in TikTok: Every influencer wants a reality show]( - [The appeal and futility of mask meltdown videos]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences](, or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving all emails from Vox. If you value Vox’s unique explanatory journalism, support our work with a one-time or recurring [contribution](. View our [Privacy Policy]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved.