Our boycott list is widely regarded as the most comprehensive English-language list of progressive boycotts.
We regularly add boycotts to the list. You can help by emailing the news editor with any relevant information.
Boycotts A-Z
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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.
Animal testing and animal rights
A number of companies are on the list for their poor record on animal testing. These companies include Boots, British Heart Foundation, Estee Lauder, Herbal Essences, Iams, Johnson and Johnson and Nestle.
There are also several companies on list for animal rights related issues. These include: Adidas, Burberry, Escada, Japan, Harrods, Joseph Ltd, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kurt Geiger and Tesco.
Find out more on the animal rights boycotts page.
Air travel
Aviation is the fastest-growing source of climate change causing greenhouse gas emissions. Visit low fly zone for more information on the boycott.
For information on airlines see Ethical Consumer's "Travel in the UK and to Europe" report .
Adidas
Is on the list due to a boycott call from Viva for using kangaroo skin to make some types of football boots.
To see how Adidas rated in Ethical Consumer magazine see the following free buyers guides: sportswear, fashion trainers or sportswear trainers.
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Despite Adidas refusing to budge from its entrenched position, other companies have started to take the initiative. Both Nike and its UK subsidiary, Umbro, last year dropped the use of kangaroo skin for its football boots. Viva! is now calling for an EU-wide ban on the import of all kangaroo products and the campaign is gathering pace. Viva! claim that they already have the support of 62% of those within the EU parliament and representatives from two Australian wildlife charities were invited to speak to a committee of MEP’s earlier in the year.
Campaign Update
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.”
Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories
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
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. For more information see Rock around the Blockade.
To see how they rated and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's buyers' guide to rum.
Barclays
This bank is subject to a boycott call by Ethical Consumer for its involvement in the Canadian oil sands.
To see how they rated and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to current accounts.
Bluefin Tuna
According to Greenpeace Bluefin tuna is an endangered species which could be extinct by 2012. Despite this it is still being served in sushi restaurants in the UK. For more information see the Greenpeace website.
For more information see Ethical Consumers free Buyers' Guide to tinned tuna.
Boots
The company is listed in the 11th edition of Naturewatch's Compassionate Shopping Guide as a company to avoid.
To see how they rated and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to shampoo.
Botswana
Survival International have called a travel boycott of Botswana due to the treatment of indigenous communities. A group of Bushmen were illegally evicted from their land in 2002 to make way for diamond mining.
BP
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. You can find out more at two boycott sites here and here.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guides to petrol and diesel.
British Heart Foundation
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
Peta are calling for a boycott of Burberry over its use of fur. See www.bloodyburberry.com/home.asp and www.bloodyburberry.com/features/chavs/index.asp for more information.
Canada
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.
Respect for Animals, Humane Society of the USA and International Fund for Animal Welfare (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
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.
It is also subject to a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for involvement in the Canadian oil sands.
“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.”
John Hilary, War on Want
Chevron Texaco
Is subject to 2 boycott calls. The first from Chevron Toxico for dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste in the Ecuadorian Amazon and failing to clean it up. The second from Avaaz.org are also calling for a global boycott of Chevron and all its subsidiaries over its involvement with Burma.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guides to petrol and diesel.
China
Boycottmadeinchinahave called a boycott of the country for its continued human rights abuses and for its occupation of Tibet.
Coca-Cola
Is under boycott calls from the Colombia Solidarity Campaign, and the India Resource Centre.
For more information see the Coca Cola boycott profile page.
To see how Coca-Cola rated in Ethical Consumer Magazine and for alternative soft drinks see our free buyers guide to soft drinks.
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 in 2011.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guides to gas and electricity suppliers.
Escada
The Campaign Against the Fur Trade are calling for a boycott of fashion group Escada for using fur products.
Estee Lauder
Uncaged are calling for a boycott of Estee Lauder. It was named as a company that either openly used animal-tested chemicals, or failed to demonstrated that the finished products and ingredients they used had not been tested on animals since a fixed cut-off date.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see several of Ethical Consumer's Buyers' Guides in the health and beauty section.
Burma Campaign UK call for a boycott of Gecko's Adventures as they offer package tours to Burma.
The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (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.
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.
Herbal Essences
The Boycott Hurtful Essences campaign was started by Uncaged because of the company's animal testing policy.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to shampoo.
Hitachi
This company subject to a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for involvement in Canadian oil sands.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see several of Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guides in the audio visual section.
HSBC
This company is subject to a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for involvement in Canadian oil sands.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to current accounts
Iams (owned by Procter & Gamble)
This brand is under a boycott call from Uncaged for unnecessary animal testing. It is estimated Procter & Gambles is responsible for the deaths of 50,000 animals each year.
For more information see the Proctor and Gamble boycotts profile page
For ratings and alternative brands see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers Guides to cat and dog food.
Israel
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.'
See our Israel boycotts page for more information.
Carmel-Agrexco, Israel’s largest agricultural exporter, went into liquidation on September 11th. The company marketed 60-70% of all settlement produce, and according to campaign group Corporate Watch profited from illegal labour conditions.1 Economist Shir Hever noted: “Many farmers have left the company, opting to work with competing ones which have not yet been at the focus of the BDS campaign, and as a result Agrexco entered a liquidity crisis”.
Jamaica
Activists say that "this nation should be avoided at all costs until the Jamaican government takes action to end the country’s virulently homophobic climate and Draconian laws that persecute homosexuals." For more information see www.boycottjamaica.org.
Japan
Japan is under a boycott call from International Fund for Animal Welfare (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.
Johnson & Johnson
Uncaged is calling a boycott of Johnson & Johnson. Uncaged have named the company as one that either openly uses animal-tested chemicals, or failed to demonstrated that the finished products and ingredients it used had not been tested on animals since a fixed cut-off date.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guides in the health and beauty section
Joseph Ltd
This company is under a boycott call from Campaign Against the Fur Trade for selling coats and other products made from animal fur.for selling boots made from rabbit fur.
Junckers
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. Contact Environmental Investigation Agency for more information.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to carpet and flooring
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.Contact Environmental Investigation Agency for more information.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to carpet and flooring
Kentucky Fried Chicken
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
For using sugar from genetically engineered sugar beets in its products. For more information see the Organic Consumers Association website.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to cereal.
Kurt Geiger
Kurt Geiger under a boycott call from Campaign Against the Fur Trade for selling boots made from rabbit fur.
LG
This company group is under a boycott call for their involvement in a mining project in Rapu-Rapu. See the SAVE RAPU-RAPU. SAVE OUR FUTURE. website for more info.
Liberty Apparel
to hold the clothing company accountable for sweatshop conditions in its suppliers' factories. The Ain't I A Woman campaign is sponsored by National Mobilisation Against Sweatshops and the Chinese Staff and Workers Association.
Liebherr Fridges
is subject to a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for its involvement in Canadian oil sands.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to fridges
L'Oreal
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.
See Ethical Consumer's buyers guides to skin care, eyeshadow and mascara for the L'Oreal company rating and alternative brands.
LV=
Nottingham 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 H&K’s UK head office.
Lycra (owned by Koch Industries Inc)
This brand is subject to a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for its involvement in Canadian oil sands
Mauritius
The Gateway to Hell campaign is calling a boycott of Mauritius over its complicity in the live export of primates. See the campaign website for more details.
Motorola
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.For more information see the NYCBI website.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to mobile phones.
Baby Milk Action, ha s called a boycott of Nestle for its irresponsible marketing of baby milk formula which infringes the International Code of Marketing of Breast milk Substitutes.
Nestlé Purina is listed on the Uncaged website's petfood and animal testing page as a brand to boycott.
View the Nestle Boycott profile page.
Nokia Siemens
This company recently 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.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to mobile phones.
Procter and Gamble
This company is on the list for its continued use of animal testing for cosmetics, household products and pet food.
For more information see the Proctor and Gamble boycott profile page.
Rachel's Organic (owned by Dean Foods)
In April 2007 The US Organic Consumers Association launched a boycott of two leading US-based organic brands Aurora and Horizon for mislabeling products 'USDA Organic' when milk was coming from factory farms. Horizon is owned by Dean Foods, also the owner of major UK brand Rachel's Organic.
Royal Bank of Scotland
RBS is under a boycott call from Ethical Consumer for its involvement in the Canadian oil sands.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to current accounts.
Shell
MOSOP-UK and Essential Action have called boycotts of Shell over their activities in the Niger Delta.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to petrol and diesel.
Starbucks
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.
Superdrug
Cheung Kong Holdings also have shares in oil giant Hutchinson Whampoa. Superdurg therefore also appear on the Tar Sands boycott list.
For more information see the Boycott Superdrug campaign pages.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's free Buyers' Guide to shampoo.
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
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. Contact Environmental Investigation Agency for more information.
Tesco
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.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's Buyers' Guide to Supermarkets.
Three Mobile
Three mobile is also on Ethical Consumers boycott list for its involvement in the Canadian oil sands.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's Buyers' Guide to mobile phone networks.
Total
Avaaz.org's are calling for a global boycott of Total and all its subsidiaries over its involvement with Burma.
To see how they rate and for alternatives see Ethical Consumer's Buyers' Guide to petrol and diesel.
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.
For more information see the Unilever boycott profile page.
Veolia
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.
Wal-mart / Asda
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) are calling a boycott against Wal-Mart was found. The OCA called on people to boycott Wal-Mart and support commerce that was organic, local, fair trade and fair made
Find out more on the ASDA / Wal Mart boycott profile page
Welsh Dairy Products
Viva! are calling for people to boycott Welsh dairy products. This is in response to the Welsh Assembly’s decision to press ahead with a five year cull of badgers in parts of Wales 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.
For more information visit www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/badgers/boycott.htm
We report on all the progressive boycotts which have a registered headquarters. Inclusion in the list does not constitute an endorsement.