Posted by:
summer
(
)
Date: August 07, 2020 09:25AM
Here's a good discussion of the terms "cancel" (used in a slang sense to mean murder in the late 90s,) and its evolution into "cancel culture" around 2015-ish. You are correct, it the phrase was originally used to combat discrimination and racism. It widened to the "Me-too" movement and other issues.
https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/cancel-culture/Yes, the meaning has definitely broadened into the wider culture. I personally see it as when hive-mind takes over to gleefully take someone down over an otherwise resolvable issue.
To get back to the OP, I think the term would apply if the unhappy customer convinced his friends who had never used the OP's business to write terrible reviews as well.