https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silk_(brand) is owned by a parent company that owns a lot of dairy brands, but their marketing emphasizes feeling good about consuming a completely non-dairy product (which some customers, like me, do because of objections to the dairy industry).

You can see some of this on display at

https://silk.com/our-story/history

https://silk.com/healthy-living/plant-based-diet

Notice the Danone link at the bottom of those pages (!!). (Americans will know their yogurt brand as "Dannon".)

The money might ultimately end up in the bank account of the same company that runs veal farms, but it's still sending a trackable signal.

Same with cars, buy a Bolt or a Prius and the money still goes to GM and Toyota. But the signal it sends is pretty clear (and it's clear car companies are seeing consumers voting with their wallets).

This is how it should work. We all want change to happen quickly and we want companies who suddenly (20 years ago, milk wasn't cruel) find themselves on the wrong side of morality to be punished. But it's more reasonable (and probably better) for this to happen gradually.

That some brands are less transparent than Bolt == GM, Prius == Toyota, doesn't seem materially relevant.

(I realize you weren't necessarily passing judgement, just some facts (which I didn't know!), so I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm just injecting my opinion onto your facts).

In fact, I basically agree with your view most of the time. Thanks for adding your thoughts.

A counterpoint is basically about giving companies resources that they might use to cross-subsidize advertising or lobbying on behalf of their other business units, affecting the demand, political environment, or cultural environment that those other business units face. In the electric car example, maybe some of the revenue from electric car sales allows manufacturers to lobby on emissions regulations in a way that some of the electric car buyers might strongly disagree with.

When people I know "vote with their wallet" they are buying handmade soaps at the farmer's market (for example), not Dove. Even brands like Organic Valley and Patagonia are probably only moderately better than average.

This is not how the argument against “ethical consumption” goes. There never will be anything close to enough soap artisans to meet even a tiny fraction of the demand; and even if production would be greatly expanded, the product would still be unobtainable fore a large majority. Therefore, buying handmade soap from the farmers market will never be more than a fashion statement.

Dove is for women. Axe is for men.

Ironically there are "Axe for Women" and "Dove Men" products.