Diageo plc — Ethics Grade C+

Diageo plc receives an overall ethics grade of C+ (55/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Food & Beverage. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 60
• privacy: 75
• consumer: 48
• environment: 65
• humanRights: 58

Documented incidents (3)

• Underage Marketing Violations (medium, 2021) — Regulators penalized social media advertising campaigns for failing to use strict age-gating mechanisms, effectively exposing youth populations to heavy spirits marketing through high-profile influencer partnerships.
• Water Depletion in Stressed Basins (high, 2022) — Production facilities in water-scarce regions faced pushback from localized agricultural groups for over-extracting groundwater resources necessary for distilling operations.
• French and UK Tax Structure Disputes (medium, 2019) — Diageo was subject to restructuring assessments and paid millions in back taxes following regulatory investigations into shifting profits through intra-group transfer pricing mechanics.

Documented good deeds

• Water Replenishment Target Achievements — Implemented extensive water harvesting and community sanitation projects in India and Africa, replenishing more water than consumed in water-stressed manufacturing locales.

Ethical alternatives

• BrewDog plc — Operates as a certified carbon-negative brewery with clearer resource footprints, despite historical labor friction.