Storm Husbands Features Editor

The University of Toronto online library system has a collection of archives, including past issues of The Mike, that go as far back to the 1940s. One day during some free time, I was scrolling through these archives when I came across an issue that caught my eye immediately. In Volume 35, Issue 14, Page 3 words like ‘boycott,’ ‘oppression,’ and ‘political’ are bolded across the scanned yellow page. It reads no different than anything I would see on my phone today; a snapshot of modern news.

The main article, written by Diane Boehm, features an interview with the Direction of Public Affairs of Nestle, Canada, following a boycott of the company in the 1970s for unethical marketing of infant breastmilk alternatives. The World Health Organization had a marketing code on substitutes that Nestlé and the International Council of Infant Food Industries was found to be in violation of the code 682 times, as per a quote from an International Baby Food Action Network, featured in the article. Nestlé’s marketing directly contradicted scientific literature on the nutrition benefits of breastmilk in comparison to formula. They also utilized ‘mother craft nurses’ — women who were not medical professionals but dressed in nurse uniforms — to deceptively mislead consumers (Margulies, 1980) The overwhelming majority of this misinformed advertising was done in impoverished communities, exacerbating the harm. This left mothers without milk dependent on expensive formula, and babies and infants malnourished and even deceased. The representative from Nestlé interviewed in this piece did not think the public relations tactics used prior to and in the aftermath of the boycott were manipulative. He further minimized the level of involvement Nestlé had in the third world, stating“3% of [12 billion USD in worldwide sales] to be conservative.” The archived article points out that this is still 36 million dollars.

Boycotts seem immense in the current political climate, but they have been around for a long time. Tesla has been written off due to owner Elon Musk’s friendship with President Donald Trump; Target’s backsliding on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs has led to decreased sales; many avoid Starbucks due to unjust labour practices; and Nestlé continues to face critique, most currently for their funding of Israeli companies heavily involved in the ongoing Palestinian genocide (The Guardian, 2026). Yet, consumers do not seem to be unified in the same way. We still use X, shop at stores like Walmart, drink our weekly caramel macchiatos, and buy KitKats at the corner shop. Boycotts often feel performative rather than transformative, as explained by Sonia Thompson for Forbes in April 2025. While we see power over the reputation of the brand, policy change is often absent, and so the effectiveness is mixed.

In either case, the ‘wokeness’ often vilified by conservative right-wing communities today is part of a long-standing tradition. The archived article shows the clear power of consumer behaviour and serves as an inspiration for us all to think more about the power of our pockets.