Avram,
“What I intended to point out was how coordinated, rapid, and policed this boycott was from the outset and at a point in time when information was more scarce.”
Rapid indeed. So was the Russian invasion and its killing of civilians. The Russians may have been counting on the fact that reaction, at least the reactions that would matter will take some time, and by that time all will be over.
For the reaction (sanction and boycotts) to be effective, they needed to be deployed rapidly.
Russia initially lied to the world when it announced that it has no intention of invading Ukraine and is moving its military away from the border. This was a lie, and likely to avoid any rapid reaction to their offensive.
Some companies are pulling away from the Russian market to avoid being hit with government-induced sanctions. Others to avoid negativity.
Russia is indeed being canceled and the way it APPEARS at this moment, for good reason. As you pointed out, I sure hope that this never gets utilized for other ideologies. But right now, this is not some ideology that people subscribe to, it’s a mass-murdering scenario and needs to be stopped. If these are the means to stop it, it may be worth it.
Lastly, I am sure that it took little convincing for most companies to divest and pull out of Russia, with the tanking and unstable economy, not much business is to be made in Russia at this point. They just run the risk of Russia finding alternative companies to work with, such as Chinese companies.