Yonder has been monitoring coordinated boycott activity targeting brands with connections to Israel in light of new confrontations in Gaza. Read our summary and see highlights below.
If your brand is being included in this narrative, we encourage you to click below to spend 30 minutes with our team to unpack what’s unfolding and understand how the conversation could impact your brand and stakeholders.
Factions online are building lists of brands to boycott in connection to the situation in Israel and focusing on eight in particular: Puma, AXA, HP, Soda Stream, Ahava, Sabra, Pillsbury, and Israeli Produce. A mix of international factions, all mostly left-leaning politically, are driving this conversation, which is not only speeding up but also becoming increasingly inauthentic. The latest narrative beginning to trend references the “Buycott” app which can be used to scan products to be told whether it’s one you should buy or boycott.
Some of the factions associated with the narrative are linked to foreign influence and adept at amplifying narratives to other factions and the general public. In fact, engagement with this narrative has recently been at its highest, and it may continue to increase. The narrative is inauthentic, with 9% of the posts in this conversation being recently created accounts and spam accounts making up 24% of the overall narrative.
The UK Labour Party faction appears to be working hardest on this narrative and is amplifying posts that outline ways to identify products made in Israel using the number “729” in barcodes. Highlighted brands include Tide, Hugo Boss, Chicos, Barbie, Kleenex, Pampers, Crest, Vicks, Ivory, Glade and many more. Other factions driving the conversation include the Populist Left, Democratic Socialists of America and Chinese State Media.
