According to Forbes, freelance programmer Ivan Pardo recently unveiled Buycott, an app designed to discourage consumers from purchasing products made by Koch Industries, owned by Charles and David Koch. The app bears a striking resemblance to one proposed by Darcy Burner, a former Microsoft programmer and Democratic congressional candidate for Washington’s first district. She unveiled her idea for a similar app last year, at Netroots Nation — an annual liberal conference — though Pardo and his team were already working on Buycott.

Pardo’s app, available on iPhone and Android, allows users to scan a product’s barcode before placing it in their shopping cart. Buycott then traces the item’s origins back to its parent company and alerts shoppers if the company is one they should avoid.

“Buycott helps you organize your everyday consumer spending to support causes you care about,” the app’s description reads.

Through the app, consumers can also join user-created ‘campaigns,’ such as supporting access to reproductive healthcare — aka Planned Parenthood — avoiding sweatshops and child labor, supporting clean and renewable energy or avoiding purchasing Koch Industries products. Then, Buycott provides users with a list of companies to either support or avoid depending on their chosen campaigns.

But, the app may make it difficult to find any suitable brand in the case of some products.

Need cereal, but demand companies provide information on whether or not the breakfast food contains genetically modified ingredients? Well, steer clear of those made by General Mills, Kellogg Company and Monsanto. And those are just a few.

Looking to clean up a tough mess with those Brawny paper towels? Think again — Brawny is owned by Georgia-Pacific, a subsidiary of Koch Industries.

Trying to be more green by avoiding beverages served in plastic? Stay thirsty, as Buycott says to avoid most brands of water.

Though the app is designed to help liberal-minded consumers avoid contributing to Koch Industries and other companies on the right side of the political spectrum, in a backhanded way, Buycott would also help conservatives to tailor their purchases to those companies with similar values.

Consumers who support a traditional view of marriage may decide to purchase fast food from Chick-fil-A or gas from Exxon Mobil Corporation, two companies Buycott instructs users who support gay rights to avoid.

Though the app was number 10 in Apple’s App Store following its debut, it has fallen to number 22. And, after facing glitches on the Android phone, Buycott has been removed from its app store.

Happy shopping.

Top Brands Owned by Koch

Brawny Paper Towels

LYCRA — found in Speedo bathing suits, J BRAND jeans and Touch Aero aerobic gear

Dixie

Quilted Northern

STAINMASTER Carpet

Angel Soft