Notable campaigns and reports
In December 2013, after pressure from SumOfUs members, major UK retailer Asos committed to stop selling Angora sourced from China after an undercover investigation revealed rabbits being plucked live for their fur. Other major UK retailers including Next, Primark, New Look and Ted Baker, and the entirety of Philip Green's Arcadia group which includes TopShop reported they had instructed suppliers to suspend sourcing of products using Angora fibre.[12] Inditex which owns the Zara stores subsequently elected to stop releasing collections that used Angora.[13]
In February 2014, SumOfUs demanded in a petition that "the cereal maker [Kellogg's] get tough with Wilmar or end its supply and distribution joint venture with the company".[14] Kellogg's subsequently committed to buy only sustainably sourced palm oil.
In 2015, SumOfUs helped to push airline companies such as Delta to stop shipping hunting trophies,[15] lobbied Canadian officials to charge Nestle responsible water rates for drawing water from public lands,[16] and helped get Standard Chartered Bank to cancel its financing of Adani's giant Australian coal mine.
In January 2024, Ekō's released a report that assessed the impact of popular social media platforms on young users. The report documented over 33 million posts on Instagram and TikTok directing "problematic content directed at young users", including content promoting misogyny, suicide, and eating disorders.[17]
Following Israel's 9-day siege on Gaza in 2021, 140,000 Ekō members contacted one of the world's biggest sports brands, PUMA, to withdraw their sponsorship of the Israel Football Association. They met with the CEO of PUMA to get their message across. PUMA ended its relationship with the Israel Football Federation last year, months after the current Israeli invasion.[18] Boycott movements also led a long-running campaign calling for Puma to end its sponsorship of Israel's national soccer team, which began in 2018. While the German sports brand terminated its sponsorship deal in December.[19]
