Does Olay Support Israel? The Role of Consumer Boycotts in Raising Awareness

Olay is a famous skincare brand owned by the multinational company, Procter and Gamble (P&G). Due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement that embraces this conflict, P&G’s greater business activity and operation and business interests in Israel are also unavoidably bound with the issue of Olay’s support for or against Israel.

Remarkably, one R&D center of P&G is based in Tel Aviv, which is located on the territory that is regarded as the Occupied Palestine by some. This is evident in the huge amounts of money that P&G pours into this research and area, which is put at about 2 billion annually. The Israel House of Innovation makes the company even more incorporated in the scientific and technical life of the country as it carries out its work with such important Israeli organizations as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries or the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The sheer presence indicates that P&G, and by extension Olay, which is one of their brands, have economic ties with Israel as a result of such relationships and investment. Co-presence in Israel is part of a strategic business plan, which includes opportunities in the local market and exploitation of Israeli innovation.

Implications for Olay and consumer boycotts

Olay, being a P&G brand, the degree to which it relates to Israel can be viewed through the lens of P&G operations. The boycott of Olay goods is promoted by a few advocacy groups and boycott campaigns as part of a general appeal by anti-Zionists to boycott companies that help fund or have investments in Israel, in particular those companies that can be argued to be investors or partners in the occupation of Palestinian territory. Through such initiatives, buying Olay is buying into the Israeli high-tech and economic sector that is concerned with polarizing and polar geo-politics.

However, it is important to keep in mind that Olay does not make any political statements either on Israel or the Israeli-Palestinian clash. Cosmetics and skincare remain the key concerns of the brand, and every attempt to support Israel is on the basis of the interest and spending of the parent corporation, not on brand-specific efforts.

Contextualizing the controversy

The controversy regarding the relationship between Olay and Israel is a part of a bigger conversation on ethical consumption as well as business responsibility. The investment of P&G in Israel is criticized because P&G is supporting the moves of the Israeli government, but the supporters of the investment can point out that the company is helping innovate the region and prodigious the checks in business. This contradiction is an indication of the complexity of multinational companies operating in politically sensitive locations. Some consumers might want to boycott Olay and other products of P&G due to reasons on human rights and geopolitical concerns, and consumers who pay more attention to the global scope of the brand and the quality of the products offered than to relations and business connections.

What are the main arguments of those calling for a boycott of Olay over Israel?

There is the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that targets corporate entities that have something to do with the policies and operations of Israel against the Palestinian territory, and through which the boycott of Olay over Israel is highly fuelled. The activists also argue that purchasing Olay products indirectly sponsors the Israeli unending occupation and purported human rights violations since the company is a property of Procter and Gamble (P and G), which has immense operations and investments in Israel.

Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) activists consider that companies like P&G are involved in the support of an Israeli regime of settler-colonialism and apartheid, which has existed in Palestine for