Russian vodka boycotts show solidarity with Ukraine — but will have little financial impact, experts say

Mills requested that “retailers join us in this symbolic but clear sign that Maine stands with Ukraine.”

It’s an effort that is exactly that, experts say: symbolic.

The boycotts probably will not make a significant financial dent in the Russian economy, experts predict, especially since the amount of Russian-produced vodka in the United States is small. Still, the efforts underline the way people can wield their habits as consumers to demonstrate solidarity or make political statements during an international conflict.

“There’s this motivation to do something and punish Russia for what appears to be a wholly unprovoked attack on a neighboring country,” said Maurice Schweitzer, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “But what we can do to punish Russia as consumers is not much — it’s largely symbolic.”

Last year, imports of Russian vodka to the United States accounted for 1.3 percent of vodka imports, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Those imports totaled $18.5 million in 2021, a small fraction of the more than $1.4 billion in total vodka imports from various nations last year, according to the group.

There are numerous reasons a boycott of something like vodka may be an attractive idea, Schweitzer said. For one, it’s a product that people can fairly easily cut out of their lives. Another reason is perhaps more figurative.

“It’s something we ingest and put inside our bodies,” he said. “To the extent that we’re disgusted by the Russian invasion and the violence, the last thing we want to do is put our lips on something that is connected to what we find revolting.”

Boycotts, he said, “help us express our identity. So, who am I? What group am I part of? What am I for? What am I against?”

“We’re unlikely to make a big dent in the Russian economy, but we can say something,” he said. “We’re taking sides, we’re taking action.”

What boycotts can also do, said Lawrence B. Glickman, a Cornell University historian of consumer activism, is raise awareness — in this particular case, about Russian actions in Ukraine.

Most boycotts have little economic impact, if any at all, but “every once in a while it has a lot of political impact,” he said.

“Usually that political impact is some sort of raising or changing of consciousness,” Glickman said. Boycotts can help consumers think about themselves as global citizens, they may start to think about their own actions and purchases in the context of a global economy.

If consumers are hoping to express resistance to Russian action, they may be asking: “How can we as citizens draw a line and say, ‘We are committed to solidarity, in this case with Ukraine and with other victims of Russian aggression’?”

Eschewing a particular vodka can be a way to express “solidarity with Ukrainians and also express a political statement over a situation where you feel quite powerless,” said Brayden King, a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

What makes the recent boycotts on Russian-made vodka unique, is that they include a swath of Russian-linked companies, rather than any single company or product, King said.

As a result, the efforts may draw attention to the fact that some companies are associated with Russia and could change some consumers’ perception of a brand. Other business that work with those products also “may feel pressured to step back from their relationships to Russian companies,” if they are worried about stigma by association, he said.

Some products may also be wrongly pulled into the fray, experts said.

A Vermont ski resort posted a video on Twitter of a bartender pouring out a bottle of Stolichnaya Vodka — a product the company says is manufactured and bottled in Latvia. In a statement on its main website, the company behind the beverage, Stoli Group, said they “unequivocally condemn the military action in Ukraine and stand in support of the Ukrainian people.”

King described going to a neighborhood bar over the weekend and seeing that the venue had taken down a shelf of spirits that once held Russian vodkas. In its place, there was an expletive-laden sign denouncing Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“The bar was probably not losing any money at that point in time, but it does create a sense of solidarity — with Ukrainians and with consumers who agree with that point of view,” he said.