"Activist" groups who use innocent

third parties in an attempt to push their agenda need to be held to account.
I am not in the slightest bit interested in a certain brewery's products. I don't drink alcohol. I don't eat a certain brand of chocolate either. It's simply too expensive.  And that lovely range of jams, sauces and other products produced in the hills behind me is also, on the whole, out of my price range.
But all three companies are in no way associated with a government decision or the implementation of that decision. It isn't even remotely connected to their businesses.
That apparently hasn't stopped the "activists" from urging people to "boycott" their products so as to put pressure on the state government to do something. 
These so called "activists" apparently have no care or consideration that they might be putting others at risk. They don't seem to think there is any harm in causing financial damage or even potentially having people lose their jobs because sales go down - and perhaps, in a worst case scenario - a whole business folding. It won't be the fault of the "activists" of course. It will be the fault of the business which has been the target. "You didn't support us. You should have put more pressure on the government" they will be told.
This is nothing more than bullying.
The businesses will just be told "You should stand up to them?" How? Do they advertise? What do they say? And why should they be forced to spend money advertising? My guess is that all three companies have already donated to the cause for which the activist group wants support. What else are they expected to do? The government isn't going to do anything differently if a managing director picks up the phone and says, "We want you to..." or even if, "Are you aware that our sales are going down because you..." The government might act if the MD said, "We are going out of business..." but it might not be in the way the MD would want.  
This is not good activism. It is an abuse of the power of the internet and the media. It might make headlines but it helps nobody. It is bullying.