Last week, we asked you to name brands which have faced boycotts. For many brands, the boycotts are current and ongoing, in big or small measure. For instance, there are many groups that have called for shunning brands that are made or sourced in Israel.

These brands include Pampers diapers, Victoria’s Secret, Intel, Volvo (for supplying equipment used to bulldoze Palestinian homes and also for its 27 per cent stake in Merkavim, whose buses are used to transport Palestinian prisoners to and from Israeli jails), Motorola and Hewlett Packard as they are seen as aiding Israeli tyranny over Palestine with their technology.

Walmart is a favourite target of boycotts for the way it allegedly treats its employees, the quality of its products, or even how it is affecting smaller businesses. There have been calls for boycott of several brands that have not supported LGBT rights. Italian pasta brand Barilla was boycotted when its chairman ruled out doing a commercial with a homosexual family. Other brand that got similar treatment were famous Russian vodka brand Stolichnaya and oil company Exxon, among others. Among those that were boycotted for supporting LGBT rights were Tide detergent, Starbucks, Walt Disney and Kraft.

When Abercrombie & Fitch launched T-shirts with sexist slogans a few years ago, a group of teenage activists from Pennsylvania launched a ‘girlcott’ which resulted in the apparel company pulling that line off the market.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW