Last Updated: 25th March 2013
Ethical Consumer list of consumer boycotts
The most comprehensive English language list of progressive boycotts, with links to campaigns, alternative products and more information about companies and brands. Boycotts are one of the four types of ethical buying.
If your boycott isn't listed please email the news editor with any relevant information (inclusion does not consititute an endorsement by Ethical Consumer).
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Adidas
Category: Animal Rights
Called by: Viva
Boycott call from Viva for using kangaroo skin to make some types of football boots.
In October 2011 Viva! announced that unconfirmed reports in the leather trade press suggested that Adidas has ceased using kangaroo skin in any of its products. Stephen Tully from Agforce, an Australian industry body, said: "Traditionally shooters had a fall-back market of shooting for skins but Mr Newton said that market was no longer viable after major manufacturers such as Adidas moved away from using kangaroo leather in response to public pressure from animal rights activists."
Viva!'s founder and director, Juliet Gellatley said, "The slaughter of kangaroos is carried out by a country with the world's worst record for species extinction. We have harried and opposed the Australian killing industry for more than a decade with considerable success. This latest move away from kangaroo leather is because Viva! has tarnished Adidas' image and therefore their profitability."
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): Amazon Inc
Company Profile (free to view):Adidas AG
Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories
Category: Politics
CODEPINK, the US women's anti-war movement, has launched the 'Stolen Beauty' campaign targeting Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories for its involvement in the occupied territories.
- Pressured Oxfam into suspending actress and Ahava spokes model Kristen Davis from publicity work as an Oxfam Goodwill Ambassador for the duration of her contract with Ahava.
- Regular bi-weekly protests in London have resulted in the flagship Ahava store losing it's lease. A number of small independent stores have dropped Ahava from inventory – among them the gift shop at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C.and the U.N. Commissary in Vienna.
- Ahava's labeling practices have been scrutinised by officials in England, the Netherlands, France, and most recently in South Africa.
- 10,000 pledges to boycott Ahava
Alaska
Category: Animal Rights
The animal rights group Friends of Animals has announced a boycott of traveling to Alaska because of the Alaskan Government's decision to allow wolf hunting.
Amazon
Category: Tax Avoidance
Called by: Ethical Consumer
We have called a boycott of Amazon over their outrageous tax avoidance.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): Amazon Inc
Asda / Wal-mart
Category: Supply Chain
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) are calling on people to boycott Wal-Mart and support commerce that was organic, local, fair trade and fair made
Bacardi
Category: Poltical
Bacardi is on the list for continuing to use its Cuban origins in its marketing despite being active in anti-Cuba lobby groups in the US.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): Bacardi & Company Ltd
Related Product Guides: Gin, Rum and Whisky.
Barclays
Category: Environment
Called by: Ethical Consumer
This bank is subject to a boycott call by Ethical Consumer for its involvement in destruction of the the Canadian Oil Sands.
Bluefin Tuna
Category: Environment
According to Greenpeace, Bluefin tuna is an endangered species could soon be extinct. Despite this it is still being served in sushi restaurants in the UK. For more information see the .
Related Product Guides: Tinned Tuna.
Boots
Category: Animal Rights
The company is listed in the 11th edition of Naturewatch's Compassionate Shopping Guide as a company to avoid.
Botswana
Category: Human Rights
Survival International have called a travel boycott of Botswana due to the treatment of indigenous communities. Bushmen were illegally evicted from their land to make way for diamond mining.
BP
Category: Environment
Called by:
The company has come in for a boycott call thanks to one of the worst environmental disasters ever to befall the United states, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP are also accused of large scale UK tax avoidance.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): BP PLC
British Heart Foundation
Category: Animal Testing
Called by: PETA
Is on the list for conducting animal testing in order to find out about a human condition. The boycott is called by PETA whose British Heartless Foundation website contains a list of health charities which do not test on animals.
Burberry
Category: Animal Testing
Called by: PETA
Peta are calling for a boycott of Burberry over its use of fur. See www.bloodyburberry.com for more information.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): Bruberry Group PLC
Canada
Category: Animal Rights
Respect for Animals has called a boycott of Canada due to the government-subsidised slaughter of nearly one million seals over the last three years.
Humane Society of the USA and IFAW are also calling for a boycott of Canadian fish and seafood, as exports to the UK earn five times more for Canada than the landed seal hunt in Newfoundland.
There is now also boycott specifically directed at Canadian maple syrup lead by PETA.
Respect for Animals say that the boycott of Canadian seafood is having a big impact. Since it came into effect, the value of snow crab exports from Canada to the US has fallen by roughly $200 million a year.
Caterpillar
Category: Political, Environment
Called by: Ethical Consumer, War on Want
Subject to a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for involvement in the exploitation of the Canadian oil sands.
War on Want have called for a boycott of Caterpillar for selling bulldozers to Israel in full knowledge that they will be armoured and used to destroy Palestinian homes, infrastructure and agriculture in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
"One of the great strengths of the Caterpillar campaign is that it has given ordinary people the chance to be personally involved in the fight for Palestinian rights. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by such an intractable situation as Palestine, but Caterpillar is a known high street brand that is directly involved in the Israeli Occupation, so people had an instant connection. The campaign also developed its own life, with people inventing their own forms of action completely independent of anything we had suggested. And the results were amazing, including the Church of England's decision to divest its £2.2 million holding in Caterpillar after we had successfully lobbied the General Synod to do so. The campaign continues, including legal action in Israel itself, and many other brands have now been targeted for boycott, divestment and sanctions. Caterpillar was a great test case for the broader movement."
Chevron Texaco
Category: Political, Environment
Chevron Toxico boycott call for dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste in the Ecuadorian Amazon and failing to clean it up.
Avaaz.org are also calling for a global boycott of Chevron and all its subsidiaries over its involvement with Burma.
China
Category: Political, Human Rights
Boycottmadeinchina have called a boycott of the country for its continued human rights abuses and for its occupation of Tibet.
Coca-Cola
Category: Political, Environment, Human Rights
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): The Coca-Cola Company
Related Product Guides: Soft drinks
EDF Energy
Category: Environment
Kick Nuclear have called a boycott of EDF for its involvement in the planned building of a new generation of nuclear power stations across the UK.
English Dairy Products
Category: Animal Rights
Called by: Viva!
Viva! are calling for people to boycott English dairy products in light of the High Court decision to allow two trial 'culls' of badgers to go ahead in England later this year in an effort to curtail the spread of bovine TB. Badgers will be trapped, caged and then shot, despite contradictory evidence on the effectiveness of such action.
Viva!'s online petition to boycott dairy can be found at http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/badgers/England.php
Related Product Guides: Milk
Escada
Category: Animal Rights
The Campaign Against the Fur Trade are calling for a boycott of fashion group Escada for using fur products.
Boycott Profile Page (parent company): Procter & Gamble
Gecko's Adventures
Category: Political
Burma Campaign UK call for a boycott of Gecko's Adventures as they offer package tours to Burma.
H&M
Category: Political
Called by: The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC)
The BNC has called for a boycott of Swedish fashion giant H&M in response to the opening of its second store in Israel. The store is in Malha, a village in Jerusalem that activists say was ethnically cleansed during the Nakba – the 'catastrophe' that accompanied the creation of the Israeli state in 1948.
Harrods
Category: Animal Rights
When contacted by Ethical Consumer in May 2008 the Campaign Against the Fur Trade stated that were calling for a boycott of Harrods, the last department store in the UK to stock fur products.
Hitachi
Category: Environment
Called by: Ethical Consumer
This company subject to a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for involvement in Canadian oil sands.
HSBC
Category: Environment
Called by: Ethical Consumer
This company subject to a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for involvement in Canadian oil sands. Also see our ethical profile of the Big 5 Banks for information about tax avasion, environmental destruction and human rights abuses relating to HSBC.
Israel
Category: Political, Human Rights
Called by: Various
This country is under several boycott calls for following 'decades of refusal to abide by UN resolutions, International Humanitarian law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.'
Japan
Category: Animal Rights
Japan is under a boycott call from IFAW due to whale hunting for "scientific" reasons in a protected whale sanctuary around Antartica.See the Boycott Japan Facebook group for more information or sign the petition.
Joseph Ltd
Category: Animal Rights
This company is under a boycott call from Campaign Against the Fur Trade for selling coats and other products made from animal fur and boots made from rabbit fur.
Junckers
Category: Environment
Junckers is on the boycott list due to selling Indonesian merbau flooring despite confirming that it is of unknown source. Without guarantees of the wood's origin, it's likely that merbau wood flooring could have come from Indonesia's last remaining rainforests.
Kahrs
Category: Environment
Kahrs is on the boycott list due to selling Indonesian merbau flooring despite confirming that it is of unknown source. Without guarantees of the wood's origin, it's likely that merbau wood flooring could have come from Indonesia's last remaining rainforests.
Kentucky Fried Chicken
Category: Animal Rights
Called by: PETA
PETA has called a boycott of KFC for animal welfare reasons. They say suppliers cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large that they can't even walk, and often break their wings and legs. At slaughter, the birds' throats are slit and they are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water—often while they are still conscious.
Kellogg's
Category: Environment
For using sugar from genetically engineered sugar beets in its products.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to cereal.
Kurt Geiger
Category: Animal Rights
For selling boots made from rabbit fur.
Related Product Guides: Shoes
LG
Category: Environment
This company group is under a boycott call for their involvement in a mining project in Rapu-Rapu.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): LG Corp
Liberty Apparel
Category: Worker Rights
The Ain't I A Woman campaign to hold the clothing company accountable for sweatshop conditions in its suppliers' factories.
Liebherr Fridges
Category: Environment
Called by: Ethical Consumer
Subject to a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for its involvement in Canadian oil sands.
L'Oreal (including Body Shop)
Category: Animal Testing
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. It has also been criticised for lobbying against an EU ban on animal testing for cosmetics.
Company Profile (free to view):L'Oreal
LV=
Category: Arms & Military Supply
The campaign 'Shut Down H&K' is calling for a boycott of financial services mutual LV= (formerly know as London Victoria). Activists discovered that LV= owns a small business park on an industrial estate in Nottingham which is home to Heckler & Kochs' UK head office.
Lycra
Category: Environment
Called by: Ethical Consumer
Subject to a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for its involvement in Canadian oil sands.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): Koch Industries Inc
Mauritius
Category: Animal Rights
The Gateway to Hell campaign is calling a boycott of Mauritius over its complicity in the live export of primates.
Motorola
Category: Arms & Military Supply, Political
The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel has called for a boycott of Motorola over the firm's business dealings with the Israel Defense Forces.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): Motorola Inc
Nestlé
Category: Irresponsible Marketing
Baby Milk Action has called a boycott of Nestle for its irresponsible marketing of baby milk formula which infringes the International Code of Marketing of Breast milk Substitutes. Also criticised for use of Palm Oil and not labelling GM ingredients.
Boycott Profile Page: Nestlé
Company Profile (free to view):Nestlé
Nokia Siemens
Category: Arms & Military Supply, Human Rights
Called by: Boycott Nokia Seimens
The company provided the Iranian regime with a "monitoring center" that enables security forces to tap cell phones, scramble text-messages, and interrupt calls. Nokia's new surveillance system has enhanced the regime's ability to crack down on dissent during recent protests. See the pledge page or Facebook group for information.
Procter and Gamble
Category: Animal Testing
Called by:
This company is on the list for its continued use of animal testing for cosmetics, household products and pet food. See the Proctor and Gamble boycott profile.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): Procter & Gamble
Royal Bank of Scotland
Category: Environment
Called by: Ethical Consumer
For its involvement in the Canadian oil sands. RBS and it's many subsidiaries also feature prominently in many of our other reports and campaigns. It was found by ActionAid to have 1,303 subsidiaries, 31% of which were in tax havens. In 2011 RBS was named by the Ecologist as one the worst banks involved in financing fossil fuel companies, supporting drilling both in Greenland and the DRC. The Bank’s involvement in the Madagascar tar-sands project has also been criticised. It gave more than £300 million in corporate loans to energy giant Total to explore the region.
BankTrack’s ‘Bankrolling Climate Change’ report put the Royal Bank of Scotland as number seven on a list of the top 20 banks which had been financing coal-fired electricity and coal mining since 2005, having provided €10.946 billion of such finance over this period. In May 2010 the report 'Nuclear Banks – No Thanks’ listed RBS as having provided €8.576 billion of finance to this sector between 2000 and 2009 – the sixth highest amount of all banking groups. The bank also has shareholdings in a number of arms companies including BAE Systems, Rolls Royce, QinetiQ, VT Group, Babcock, Ultra Electronic and Chemring.
Shell
Category: Human Rights
Boycotts of Shell over their activities in the Niger Delta.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): Royal Dutch Shell
Starbucks
Category: Worker Rights
Starbucks is under a boycott call from the Industrial Workers of the World and US Organic Consumer's Association over its treatment of Ethiopian coffee farmers. Also heavily criticised by Ethical Consumer over corporate tax avoidance.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): Starbucks Corporation
Company Profile (free to view):Starbucks
Superdrug
Category: Environment
Called by: Ethical Consumer
Cheung Kong Holdings also have shares in oil giant Hutchinson Whampoa. Superdurg therefore also appear on the Tar Sands boycott list.
Target
Category: Human Rights
US retailer Target has become the subject of a boycott by gay rights campaigners Moveon.org, after it was revealed the company donated funds to a lobby group that supports Republican Senator Tom Emmer, a fervent supporter of anti-gay legislation. See the Facebook page here
Tarkett
Category: Environment
This company is on the list for refusing to provide evidence to prove the legal source of their merbau flooring. Without guarantees of the wood's origin, it's likely that merbau wood flooring could have come from Indonesia's last remaining rainforests.
Tesco
Category: Animal Welfare
Tesco is under a boycott call from Care for the Wild International due to the sale of live turtles, tortoises and frogs in their Chinese stores. Criticism of Tesco also features prominently in many other areas including tax avoidance, food labelling, use of palm oil, supply chains.
Three Mobile
Category: Environment
Called by: Ethical Consumer
Three mobile is also on Ethical Consumers boycott list for its involvement in the Canadian oil sands.
Total
Category: Political
Avaaz.org is calling for a global boycott of Total and all its subsidiaries over its involvement with Burma.
Detailed Company Profile (subscribers only): total SA
Unilever
Category: Animal Testing
The Naturewatch Compassionate Shopping Guide 12th Edition 2010 listed Unilever as a company that was not endorsed by Naturewatch. It did not endorse Unilever as the company was unable to demonstrate a fixed cut off date for its animal testing policy.
Company Profile (free to view):Unilever
Boycott Profile Page: Unilever
Veolia
Category: Political, Human Rights
Called by: BIG Campaign
Veolia is under a boycott call from the BIG campaign as "the company is directly implicated in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and is playing a key role in Israel's attempt to make its annexation of the Palestinian territory of east Jerusalem irreversible."
One of the company's subsidiaries was a 'leading partner' in the CityPass consortium, which was contracted to build a light rail tramway system linking west Jerusalem to illegal Jewish settlements in occupied east Jerusalem. Veolia was responsible for the operation of the system.
Veolia lost a contract worth 3.5 billion Euros from the Stockholm Community Council for its involvement in the Israel light rail project. See page 16 for more on the Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions campaign against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
West Country Dairy products
Category: Animal Rights
Called by: RSPCA
RSPCA chief executive called for a boycott of dairy produce from Gloucestershire and Somerset, the areas where a badger cull will begin.