What Companies Get Canceled For

The number one reason to “cancel” a brand – or at least boycott or protest them - is the mistreatment of animals. Animal cruelty was named as the top reasons why consumers would give up on a brand in all three countries included in the Cancel Culture survey which is a content special of the Statista Global Consumer Survey. 44 percent of the more than 1,500 U.S. respondents said they would give companies mistreating animals the boot, ahead of the mistreatment of workers at 41 percent. UK respondents saw things similarly, while in Germany, worker mistreatment only came in rank six after environmental harm, corruption, health concerns around products and racism.

18 percent of U.S. respondents said they had boycotted a brand before over practices seen as unethical. 15 percent said they had spoken with their friends and family about their concerns around a brand, while 16 percent said they had posted about these concerns on social media. While only 21 percent of Americans said that they would never boycott a brand or otherwise attack them over their business practices, 50 percent said that they had actually never done so before.