Loblaws boycott: Canadian star Alyson Court rocks anti-Loblaws T-shirt — 'Loonette has always been a real one'

As Loblaw and its affiliated stores continue to be the targets of a national boycott, it’s no surprise that when actress Alyson Court donned an anti-Loblaws T-shirt last week, it got social media buzzing.

Court, who you may know best as Loonette from ‘90s TV favourite The Big Comfy Couch or for her countless voice acting roles, tweeted a photo of herself on June 7 sporting a “Roblaws: Live Life Hungry” T-shirt under a Toronto bomber jacket while heading to Brooklyn Comic Con.

That shirt is part of a notorious anti-Loblaws set of parody merch designed by Toronto artist Christopher Lambe earlier this year after news broke of the grocery corporation scaling back day-of 50-per-cent discounts to just 30 per cent off, leaving him incensed. The company rescinded that decision after considerable negative feedback.

When Court, who is a fan of Lambe’s work, heard the company was trying to get his products taken off online retailer Etsy and that he was hit with an Intellectual Properties infringement case, she became invested. She says, “When big companies try to threaten little guys over satire and parody, I really get my bristles up. I was like, ‘Oh hell no, you are not bullying him.’ Big corporations use the legal system to bleed people dry.”

Court shared too that, just last week, she declined an opportunity to take part in an ad for No Frills, which is owned by Loblaw, out of solidarity with the boycott. She added that "a lot of other actors did, too."

Actress Alyson Court loves hometown Toronto — 'I can't live anywhere else'

And it just so happens the actress loves to wear tees that represent how she’s feeling in the moment or her hometown — Toronto — especially while travelling to the U.S. (The similarly popular Grand Theft Ontario T-shirt is a particular favourite of hers to wear to Pearson Airport, as one does.) Having followed the boycott, Court was already in full support of the shirt’s message.

“The company’s profits are astounding and then you look at the cost of food, and there's absolutely no evidence of a moral compass whatsoever,” she says. “The greed that leads to those kinds of decisions puts people in situations where they have to choose if they’re going to buy their kids shoes that actually fit or get groceries for the week for their family. It’s disgusting.”

While Court is careful to note she hasn’t been as impacted as many folks have in Canada by the current cost of living crisis thanks to the privilege of having a job she can do remotely, she does share it was a shock when she and her husband and their three children were looking for a new rental post-pandemic, and wanted to stay in the city but felt priced out.

“I remember we went looking, we came home, and I just sat down in shock, like, we're screwed,” she says. “I thought, this is a mortgage. That's when we decided, well, if we're going to pay a mortgage, let's see if we can pay our own.”

Noting the similarities between the housing and food industries in Canada, Court adds, “I believe that everyone has a right to have a place to live, and property taxes should not be forcing people out of their homes. I mean, we can't put money into housing, but we can pay for a $650 million parking lot? There's a conflict of interest in this city that is allowed at every level of government, and until we actually do something about it, nothing's going to change.”

That’s the exact sentiment that led to a passionate Reddit group, titled “Loblaws Is Out Of Control,” to organize a boycott of the grocery chain in May. However, the movement has persisted as consumers have remained frustrated with the company’s high prices, with some extending their boycott of the grocery giant indefinitely.

Canadians react: 'Loonette has always been a real one,' 'I love her even more!'

Naturally, then, members of the group were thrilled to see Court supporting their initiative. As one user simply commented, “What a legend!!! I love her even more!!!!” Another noted, “Loonette has always been a real one,” while yet another said, “This makes my inner child and adult me happy.”

Although Court wasn’t at all aware of the fan reaction, she’s delighted to hear it. Though her Big Comfy Couch days are long behind her, the appreciation still warms the Toronto native’s heart, who also voiced Lydia Deetz in the animated Beetlejuice series in the ‘90s, along with Jubilee in that era’s X-Men: The Animated Series, and Claire in a series of Resident Evil video games.

“At the time, when I was filming, I loved the anonymity,” she shares. “I took off the hat and the nose and nobody really knew who I was. But nowadays, because I've started doing fan conventions and am finally having an opportunity to get out and see people all these years later, it's been wonderful.

“I’m meeting people who were babies when Big Comfy Couch first aired, and who then watched X-Men and Beetlejuice as kids, and then played Resident Evil as teenagers and young adults. They've grown up with me, and it's been this journey that we've had together without realizing it. Now, they're having kids and they're passing it all down to them. It's beyond what I could have expected when we made the shows or the games; I never would have imagined the longevity of any or all of these properties.”

What Canadian actress and icon Alyson Court, who played Loonette on The Big Comfy Couch, is up to now

Court is just as prolific these days, continuing voice acting and also directing a number of projects in the children’s entertainment space, including Blue’s Clues & You, My Little Pony, and an upcoming CBC comedy for kids called Let’s Go Bananas, which she dubs “Modern Family for pre-schoolers.”

Between jobs, Court remains dedicated to the cause. She says, “I love my Torontonians. It’s why I can't live anywhere else; they’re smart, satirical, thoughtful, engaged people, and they care about what’s going on and making this city better for each other. And at the end of the day, the people who are being hurt the most by all this don't have time to do something about it because they're doing whatever they can to stay alive. So I'm really glad that people are fighting back against Loblaws, but the buck can't stop there. We have so much more to do.”