Performative activism of this kind - knitting hats, making whistles - is activism. It’s also performative. That isn’t always bad.
The hats and whistles and etc aren’t going to fix anything. But they’re visible, they’re tangible markers of group membership and solidarity, and they can make other, more direct actions more impactful. And, the people who lean into the whistles and hats are mostly people who won’t or can’t do other things anyway.