new york – Grassroots organizations are encouraging US residents not to spend their money on Friday as an act of “economic resistance” to protest what the group’s founders view as a negative impact on both billionaires, large corporations and major political parties regarding the lives of working Americans.
The People’s Union USA will incite 24-hour expenditure abstinence and set it up to launch a “economic power outage” late at night. This is a term that has been shared and discussed on social media. The activist movement said it plans to promote a weekly consumer boycott of certain companies, including Walmart and Amazon.
Other activists, faith-based leaders and consumers have already organized boycotts to protest businesses that have scaled down their diversity, equity and inclusive initiatives, and are opposed to President Donald Trump’s move to abolish all federal DEI programs and policies. Some faith leaders are encouraging congregations to refrain from shopping at Target, one of the companies that will set back DEI efforts during the 40-day Lent period, which begins Wednesday.
Below is more information about the various events and experts’ thoughts on whether consumers should keep their wallets closed. This is an effective tool to influence the positions a company takes.
According to social media accounts, the People’s Union USA has been established to praise John Schwartz, a meditation teacher who lives near the Chicago area, for starting a day without payments.
The organization’s website said it is not tied to political parties, but represents all people. There were no replies to requests for comments sent to the group’s email address this week.
The planned blackout is scheduled to run from 12am ET on Friday to 11:59pm ET. The group of activists advised customers to refrain from purchasing, whether in stores or online, rather than from large retailers or chains, particularly from large retailers and chains. They say participants want to avoid fast food and fill in car gas tanks, and shoppers who need emergency or essential items should support local small businesses and avoid using credit or debit cards.
The People’s Union plans another broad economic blackout on March 28th, but it has also organized boycotts targeting certain retailers (Walmart and Amazon) as well as global Food Giants Nestle and General Mills. Due to boycotting Amazon, the organization encourages people to refrain from purchasing anything from Whole Foods, which is owned by e-commerce companies.
Many boycotts are planned, particularly targeting targets. Disc Counter, which has previously supported diversity and inclusion efforts aimed at uplifting black and LGBTQ+ people, announced in January that it would rewind the DEI initiative.
A labor advocacy group led by Nina Turner called We Are Somebody launched a boycott of Target on February 1st to coincide with Black History Month.
Meanwhile, Pastor Jamal Bryant, a pastor in the Atlanta area, organized a website called Target Fast.org, recruiting Christians for the 40-day Target Boycott from March 5th. Other faith leaders support the protest.
Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the civil rights organization National Action Network, announced in late January that he would identify two companies in the next 90 days that would be boycotted to abandon their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. The organization has established a committee to identify potential candidates.
“Donald Trump can cut the federal DEI program to bone and take back federal money to expand diversity, but he can’t tell the grocery store we shop for.”
Some retailers may feel a slight pinch from the widespread “blackout” on Friday. Updated concerns about inflation and the threat of Trump’s tariffs on imports have already affected consumer sentiment.
“The (market share) pie is very large,” said former Cohen Mar, chief retail advisor at market research firm Circana. “We can’t afford to make slices smaller. Consumers spend more money on food, and that means more pressure is put on common and discretionary products.”
Still, Cohen believes that the overall impact may be limited, and that meaningful sales are likely to be more likely to surface in liberal coastal regions and metropolitan cities.
Anna Tukeman, a marketing professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, said she believes that economic blackouts are likely to cause dents in daily retail sales, but she does not think it is sustainable.
“I think this is an opportunity to show that consumers have a voice in a day,” she said.
Other boycotts produced different outcomes.
Target saw sales declines in the spring and summer quarter of 2023, with disc counters partly attributed to customer backlash against the collection celebrating Pride Month’s LGBTQ+ community. As a result, Target didn’t carry Pride products at all stores the following year.
Tuchman studied the impact of boycotts on Goya Foods in the summer of 2020 after the company’s CEO praised Trump. However, her research based on the research company’s sales found that the brand saw sales increase by the first Goya buyers who have disproportionately fallen from the larger Republican community.
However, the revenue bumps proved to be temporary. Goya didn’t have a detectable sales increase in three weeks, Tuchman said.
This was another story for Budlight, who spent decades as an American bestselling beer. Sales plummeted in 2023 after the brand sent commemorative cans to transgender influencers. Bud Light’s sales have not yet fully recovered, according to alcohol consulting firm Bump Williams.
Tuchman believes the reason is because there were many other beers. We believe that the brand’s mostly conservative customer base can buy it to replace Bud Light.
Afya Evans, a political and image consultant in Atlanta, said he will be shopping on Friday, but will focus on small businesses and black-owned brands.
Evans knows other boycotts, but she says she likes this because she believes it could have some impact on sales.
“It’s a broader thing,” she said. “We want to see what the impact is. Let everyone get involved and plan from there.”
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Dee-Ann Durbin, AP Business Writer in Detroit, contributed to this report.
