Depend is a Kimberly-Clark brand specializing in adult incontinence products, widely sold in pharmacies and supermarkets globally. While the products serve critical health needs, consumer boycott is directed at Kimberly-Clark’s parent-level harms: from ties to Israel through Hogla-Kimberly, to worker exploitation in supplier factories, to PFAS contamination cases.
Kimberly-Clark’s harms are layered. Its commercial presence in Israel (via Hogla-Kimberly) and historical reliance on settlement-linked suppliers entrench it in systems of dispossession and apartheid. Its continued operations in Israel also provide tax revenues and economic normalization that strengthen the state’s political and economic infrastructure.
On labor rights, the company has repeatedly been linked to suppliers accused of forced labor, underpayment, and unsafe conditions, particularly in Malaysia’s glove sector, a critical part of Kimberly-Clark’s health and hygiene product chain. These abuses reveal how the company benefits from systemic worker exploitation while publicly presenting itself as a responsible brand owner.
Environmentally, Kimberly-Clark has improved on some forest-sourcing issues but remains a major global polluter. Its ongoing use of plastics and PFAS chemicals underlines how “sustainability” reforms often mask underlying systemic harms.
Boycotting Kimberly-Clark is High Impact. Its portfolio covers everyday essentials such as tissues, diapers, feminine hygiene products that dominate supermarket shelves worldwide. Consumer pressure here not only challenges a company with documented ties to apartheid-linked suppliers but also disrupts a global actor responsible for labor exploitation and environmental degradation at scale.