Brands I stopped buying

Earlier this year, I was delivering some supplies for families in need in the UAE (yes, there are quite some here, especially after COVID years) and came across a new mom, with a two-months old baby. I brought her diapers, some infant clothes and food for her too. But when I talked to her, she asked me for formula milk. I felt sorry for her, thought she lost her milk either due to stress or malnutrition. But she told me no. She was able to breastfeed, however she believed mother's milk was not good enough for the child. It was formula that was the only right nutrition.

Not THIS again. I thought.

And by 'THIS' I mean decades long marketing campaign lead by Nestle targeting mothers in low-income countries. The practices include misleading marketing claims, broad sampling through hospitals, securing endorsement from medical professionals through sponsoring trips, events or even gambling chips.

Philippines launches inquiry into formula milk firms targeting poor | Philippines | The Guardian

All this has resulted in many women across Africa and South East Asia to move away from natural breastfeeding and become desperate to get their hands on formula milk, believing it is the right thing to do for their babies. Such beliefs and claims are not only clearly against WHO guidelines, that recommends natural feeding since birth at least for the first 6 months, but also unethical and lead to repetitive scandals and international protests against Nestle. You would not believe how determined some mums would get to buy formula. They would compromise their own nutrition, they would only focus spending all their money on the baby milk supplies. When I'd visit small grocery stores in impoverished neighborhoods in Senegal, I'd see formula milk locked in the closet with a chain - as if it was the most valuable product in the store. Apart from misleading new mothers, the company was pushing its product heavily in the communities without access to clear water. UNICEF has warned that a formula-fed child living in disease-ridden and unhygienic conditions is between 6 and 25 times more likely to die of diarrhea and four 4x more likely to die of pneumonia than a breastfed child.

Global Breastfeeding Collective | Global Breastfeeding Collective

First time I came across this phenomenon in the early 2000's when I was studying in Singapore and travelling across South East Asia. In the meantime, Nestle has faced multiple consumer protests, pressure from different governing bodies and pledged many times to do better. But the problem constantly resurfaces and in the year 2022 belief in superiority of milk formula is still prevailing in many geographies.

This is also why I stopped buying anything from Nestle many years ago. And I am not alone. According to Edelman Trust Barometer Study 40% of people say they actively stopped buying the brands due to questionable reputation of the company that owns them. The higher income of the consumer group, that % proportionately grows.

In the recent weeks we see the increase in the pressure against many big companies to exit Russia - due to their invasion on Ukraine. And while many brands did so very quickly, others are either not so fast, or directly take advantage of the situation (openly or secretly). The explanations have been vague and consumer pressure humongous. Multiple websites and social media pages started tracking brands operations in Russia and holding them accountable. Current employees, former employees, share holders and regular consumers are raising questions and demanding explanations.

Over 600 Companies Have Withdrawn from Russia—But Some Remain | Yale School of Management

Should companies stop their operations in Russia due to the war and international sanctions? That depends. On what? The answer is the same as for Nestle and formula scandals. It depends on your principles. If you are putting in your company purpose:

Unlocking the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come.

And misleading new mothers with your marketing strategy, you are easy to become a target from your outraged consumers and clearly you are not holding up to your own company statement. However, many of those companies that did not pull out of Russia do not have really in their purpose 'acting for world peace' or 'doing the right thing'. Often their mission/values are circulating around product quality and - yes - securing value but for the shareholders. Therefore there is not much surprise for their actions. Technically, it is all within character.

However, there is the other side of the coin. In reality, there are a lot of not-so-nice people around us. People acting solely for their own benefit, with little respect or regard to others. What holds them back from unleashing their natural attitude is external pressure. If the society they function within has different moral expectations and does not reward 'a-hole behavior', they will have to adjust at least on the surface or face ostracism. And so, we live in the times when 86% of people globally expect brands to act beyond their pure business, including involvement in societal causes, support of local communities and addressing political issues.

There are two ways to look at it.

First one, purpose-based. Sticking to your values comes with a cost. This is a moment of truth, whether you really live your values or only preach them. Losing sales in a big market like Russia is a big hit. If you really believe that your mission is 'improve the lives of the world’s consumers, now and for generations to come' (yes, my dear former employer P&G) selling to a country that initiated and continues inhuman aggression may just require you to scratch that part out and leave the paragraph where you only talk about 'allowing our shareholders to prosper'.

Second one, business calculation. Despite many scandals, consumer boycotts, political and NGO pressure Nestle is still one of the biggest FMCG companies, doing quite well. The truth is - someone looks at the spreadsheet and compares the profit value lost from shutting down huge market like Russia vs sales loss due to reputation hit in other markets. As long as the first one is bigger than the second, they will park the values for profit.

Thanks to social media power modern consumers, especially younger generations really believe they can impact brands and companies to put their money where their mouth is. But in order to do that, social media posts may be just not enough. Putting consumer money where their mouth is the only way to do the trick and balance the equation.