Like do they actually, reliably effect change in the way the activists intend?
Have they worked against Israel? Did they work against Apartheid South Africa? Could they work against Trump’s America?
My hunch is that they don’t, really, but can be a useful promotional tool for other issues. Like don’t buy American is a simple message. If people will listen to that, they may listen to reasons why, which maybe could build a movement.
But on the whole I am very sceptical, and would be interested in any reasons for or against boycotts.
Disney allegedly lost 1.7 million customers after suspending Jimmy Kimmel. He was very quickly reinstated.
It’s not that boycotts don’t work, it’s more that they require a critical mass to work and that can be hard to achieve.
And most of them patted themselves on the shoulders and reactivated their accounts.
edit: Holy shit disney just killed hulu.
What people boycott matters. So many products/services are effectively monopolized that only things people are willing to actually go without can effectively be boycotted.
It worked with Jimmy Kimmel because there’s neither a substitute entertainer that will satisfy cancelers nor is there an alternate disney owned streaming service -which didn’t remove kimmel- they can funnel said canceler’s to.
https://www.webfx.com/blog/internet/the-6-companies-that-own-almost-all-media-infographic/
Also because Colbert previously was cancelled and that was already upsetting to many people. If Colbert wasn’t cancelled already We might not have seen enough people care when Kimmel was suspended
In case of a country at war you need a lot more than a boycott.