Some thoughts on recent Canadian product boycotts from Divest This!

I've not talked a lot about consumer product boycotts directed against Israel, perhaps because those have not been a major component of BDS in the US.

Up in Canada, however, consumer boycotts seem to be more popular. I suspect that some of reason behind the phenomena is geographical. The concentration of population and media in certain Canadian cities means boycott activities are more likely to gain volunteers and get the attention of the national press in places like Toronto or Montreal.

The culture of anti-Israel organizations may also play a role since these groups tend to be fragmented, with each "doing their own thing" with regard to B, D or S. A lack of institutions with global name recognition (a la Harvard or the Presbyterian Church) to be subverted may also make boycott a more appealing strategy than divestment in the Great White North.

Whatever the reason, consumer boycotts have some serious limitations. First off, contemporary consumer culture (with its constant bombardment of marketing messages) makes it very difficult for someone "selling" the notion of not buying this or that (for whatever reason) to rise above the din. And even when someone does manage to pull off a boycott-related protest, they face the challenge that a counter-boycott does not require their opponents to do anything other than go shopping (often for products they would have bought anyway).

The inherent risk of a boycott strategy is laid bare in this video which shows what happened when a bunch of Canadian BDS-niks decided it would be a great idea to protest in front of a store selling Israeli wines.

Toronto Wine Boycott Flops - Part 1
Toronto Wine Boycott Flops - Part 2
Toronto Wine Boycott Flops - Part 3
Toronto Wine Boycott Flops - Part 4

As that story unfolded (and you should really watch all parts), the dozen or so protestors were met by hundreds of Israel supporters who bought out the store's Israeli wine supply and proceeded to party in the streets while the boycotters slunk off in humiliation.

That was obviously a sweet moment, but not unique. If you recall last year's Trader Joe's "deshelving" floperoo, the Israel-dislikers, after declaring that Trader Joes across the country would face their wrath for not ending their distribution of Israeli couscous, barely managed to make a nuisance of themselves in a single store. And the only thing their efforts resulted in was a sellout of Israeli food products (which continues to this day), acclamations for Trader Joes for standing up to the BDS bullies, and an example created for the entire retail world regarding the benefits that accrue to companies that tell boycotters to take a long walk on a short pier.

Most recently, an attempt to boycott the Israeli cosmetics firm Ahava (again in Canada) led to a wild sell off of Ahava goods across the Commonwealth (helped along by the marvelous new anti-boycott site Buycott Israel). Add to that the sell-out performances of Israeli films targeted at this summer's Toronto Film Fest and you're left with a situation where marketing directors for Israeli companies are likely salivating at the prospect of being boycotted by cretins like those who keep coming back to the boycott well for another dunking.