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Buycott: Scan Product Barcodes to Boycott Evil Parent Companies


May 17, 2013 | Kyle Chayka

When you’re shopping, are you aware of exactly what it is that you’re buying, and which parent company benifits? It would be pretty crazy to have all that information on hand, but luckily for us, “there’s an app for that.”

Buycott is a new app available on iPhone and Android that allows you to scan the barcode of an item, letting you trace it back to its parent company. Though it aids the boycott of Monsanto and Koch Brothers’ companies, the app was designed to be neutral, without agendas to push on its user base.

However, there’s an interesting feature that allows you to subscribe to user generated lists concerning a variety of issues such as human rights and polictical interests — i.e. which brands support same-sex marriage and which brands support the usage of GMOs.

One of the main developers behind the app 26-year-old freelance developer Ivan Pardo received some help from friends but wasn’t ready for such a huge influx of users. He had to temporarily pull the Android version of the app because of its rapid growth in users.

(Images: Forbes/ChristinaRobertson)