Boycotts

Boycott Call - who has it and why

 

 

Please note, we do not call boycotts, rather we report boycotts that have been called by other organisations. See our criteria for sources used here.

This list has been updated since the printing of the 2009 edition of the pocket guide (Feb 09). Asia Pulp & Paper and Kellogg are new to the list, while Kimberly-Clark, Microsoft and GlaxoSmithKline have been removed.

Greenpeace's boycott call on Kimberly-Clark ended in August 2009. [more info]

 

Nestle
Called by: IBFAN (UK) www.babymilkaction.org
The world's largest food company, proudly proclaims "good food, good life”. Nestle has been the target of strong international criticism for its aggressive marketing of infant formula in developing countries with scarce drinkable water, leading to infant deaths (despite 10 year ban by the World Health Organisation).
Other criticisms: As one of the top four water bottling companies in the world, Nestle has been criticised for contributing to the problem of plastic waste and usurping water that should remain a shared resource. As one of the world's largest chocolate producers, Nestle has been criticised for contributing to child and forced labor problems in cocoa-growing nations.

Proctor & Gamble
Called by: 1.) Uncaged (UK) www.uncaged.co.uk/pg.htm
Called by: 2.) PeTA (USA) www.iamscruelty.com
P&G has been critised for their ongoing involvement in painful and lethal animal tests.
Other criticisms: P&G has been criticised for use of unsafe ingredients in personal care and food products and use of sweatshop labor. Environmental groups have criticized Proctor & Gamble for working to weaken Europe's laws regarding toxins in household products and for funding an organization that fought GMO disclosure laws.

Coca-Cola Company
Called by: 1.) India Resource Center (India) www.IndiaResource.org
Called by: 2.) Campaign to Stop Killer Coke (USA) www.killercoke.org
Coca-Cola has received ongoing criticism for murders, kidnappings and torture of union leaders at Coca-Cola bottling plants in Colombia. Also in India, local communities have been exposed to toxic waste, had their groundwater and soil polluted, and suffered shortages of drinking water, as a direct result of Coke's operations.
* While Coca-Cola Amatil is majority Australian owned, they pay licencing fees to, and are 35% owned by, the Coca-Cola Company (US).

Kellogg
Called by: Organic Consumers Association (USA) www.organicconsumers.org/kelloggs.cfm
The Organic Consumers Association's (OCA) and allies has called for a boycott of all Kellogg's products after Kellogg's refuses to source only GE-Free Sugar. Monsanto's RoundUp Ready Genetically Engineered Sugar is due to hit stores in late 2008, exposing millions of American consumers to untested and unlabeled "Franken Foods" that threaten human heath, the environment and farmers' rights everywhere.

L'Oreal
Called by: NatureWatch (UK) www.naturewatch.org
Naturewatch has a long-standing boycott of L'Oreal due to its continued use of animal testing for cosmetics. The French multinational uses ingredients that have been tested on animals, despite public statements to the contrary. Other criticisms: It has also been criticised for lobbying against an EU ban on animal testing for cosmetics. L’Oreal has not signed the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, and clothing subsidiary, Ralph Lauren (Polo), was involved in sweatshop garment worker abuse. L'Oreal (in whom Nestle is a large stakeholder) bought the Body Shop in 2006.

Altria (previously Philip Morris)
Called by: Ethical Consumer (UK) www.ethicalconsumer.org
For funding groups which claim that global warming is a "myth" or “uneconomic” to address. Altria is the world's largest tobacco company. Kraft Foods was spun off from parent company Altria in March 2007, and is now an independent publicly held company.

Asia Pulp & Paper
Called by: World Wildlife Fund www.worldwildlife.org
For activities in Indonesia, clearcutting one of the world's most biodiverse and threatened forests.

Tata Group
Called by: The Burma Campaign UK www.burmacampaign.org.uk
For directly or indirectly helping to finance Burma’s brutal military dictatorship.
Other criticisms: Tata Group (India's largest industrial conglomerate) subsidiary Tata Power makes weapons and weapon components for the India's Defence forces.
Tata owns car makers Jaguar and Land Rover, and Tetley tea.

For more information on boycotts visit www.ethicalconsumer.org/Boycotts/currentboycotts.aspx (UK website).