Top 5 Big brand boycotts

People boycott companies for variety of reasons, from mistreat of workers to animal rights issues. Here are our top five big brand boycotts, those huge names you just have to avoid.

Superdrug

Its parent company, Huchison Wimpoa, also owns Husky Energy an oil giant involved in Canadian Tar sands. Many environmental activist consider the extraction of resources from this once pristine environment to be the “greatest climate catastrophe in history”. Ethical Consumer has been calling a boycott of this company for for over a year now. You can find out more here. 

Nestlé

The boycott of Nestlé is the world’s longest running. It began in 1977 in response to aggressive marketing of Nestlé baby milk formula in poorer countries. Campaign groups say the boycott was called against Nestlé, rather than the many other baby milk manufacturers because it was found to be responsible for more violations of the World Health Assembly marketing requirements for baby foods than any other company. Nestlé doesn’t currently offer a British brand breastmilk substitute, however, you may find their imported Cerelac baby milk brand in world food stores in the UK. However campaigners urge people to boycott a range of Nestlé products to keep pressure on the company you can see a full list here.

Tesco

Tesco is currently under a boycott call from Care for the Wild International (CWI) for selling live turtles in china. Millions of these animals are used in traditional medicine or boiled alive for food every year. CWI say “Amphibians and reptiles have all the neurological components for pain perception and respond behaviourally to pain. Therefore even contemplating the experience of a turtle whose shell, limbs and entrails have been cut away, but which survives in this state for hours, is unimaginable.”

Coca-Cola 

If you believe the marketing this company is obsessed with “spreading happiness” however this doesn't seem to extend to its workers or the vicinity of its bottling plants. The company is currently under two boycott calls. The first is from Colombia Solidarity Campaign for its repression of trade union activity. The second is from the India Resource Centre for its depletion of groundwater resources in India.

Procter and Gamble

This company has three separate boycotts calls all for its poor record on animal testing. Peta has called boycott of its Iams brand petfood products, according to Peta the boycott would continue until Iams stopped conducting experiments on animals.  The Hurtful Essences website (run by Uncaged) calls on people to boycott the Herbal Essences Brand because it is tested on animals, while Uncaged also calls for a boycott of the entire Procter and Gamble group more generally for  ongoing "cruel and unnecessary" testing on animals for the sake of cosmetics and cleaning products.