They poured the liquid out — blueberry-flavored, orange-flavored and the original, face-puckering unflavored version — tweeting #DumpRussianVodka and, at gay bars across the country, made do with Absolut and soda instead.
This was 2013, after Vladimir V. Putin imposed harsh new measures aimed at L.G.B.T.Q. Russians.
And now, as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine takes a horrific human toll, turning millions into refugees, the boycotts are back: American consumers channeling outrage into ditching products they assume are produced by Russians in Russia, with ties, somehow, to Mr. Putin.
The problem with that logic is that Americans consume hardly any products that are truly Russian. That goes for vodka — and oil, too. Russian oil makes up 3 percent of what Americans consume on a daily basis.
This mistaken impression has led people to punish businesses that are really Russian in name only. Some states that recently placed a ban on…
