Economic blackout: Will a 24-hour boycott make a difference?
NEW YORK (AP) — An “economic blackout” promoted on social media was underway Friday but with no clear indication of how many people took part or whether national retailers and restaurant chains noticed any effect from the grassroots protest.
A fledgling activist group encouraged U.S. residents to refrain from spending for 24 hours as an act of resistance against what the group's founder described as the malign influence of billionaires, big corporations and both major political parties on the lives of working Americans.
The planned blackout started at 12 a.m. EST and was set to run through 11:59 p.m. EST.
As of midday, any retrenchment on the part of consumers wasn't visible, according to Marshal Cohen, chief retail advisor at market research firm Circana. The assessment was based on phone calls with retail executives and reports from his network of analysts monitoring malls and stores, Cohen said.
“It doesn’t look like anybody’s really pulling back," he said. "If you get 5% or 10% of the people that don’t shop, that could happen on any given day because of the rain.”
Other groups and individuals are organizing longer boycotts to protest companies that have reduced their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and to oppose President Donald Trump's moves to abolish all federal DEI programs and policies.
The People's Union USA, which takes credit for initiating the no-spend day, was founded only recently by John Schwarz, a meditation teacher who lives in the Chicago area, according to his social media accounts. The Associated Press did not receive a reply to requests for comment sent this week to the email address on the organization's website.
The website includes a link to a crowdfunding site where Schwarz requested help funding The People's Union USA. As of late Friday afternoon, it showed well over $95,000 in donations, the vast majority in amounts $50 and under.
The New York Times reported Friday afternoon that a biography in the “Meet the Founder” section of the website omitted information about Schwarz that many potential donors would have found off-putting: in 2007, a Connecticut judge sentenced him to 90 days in jail and five years' probation for disseminating voyeuristic material.
The AP could not immediately reach the Middlesex County criminal court clerk's office to verify the court records the newspaper cited. The Times said Schwarz did not admit guilt with the plea he entered at the time but agreed the state had enough evidence to convict him and did not contest the charge.
“This whole thing was a big scam,” he told the newspaper Friday. “It’s going to be expunged. ... I did not do anything inappropriate to anybody.”
The term “Blackout” previously was applied to a 2020 protest initiated by two Black women who wanted the music industry to take a day to talk about racism and how the industry profited off Black artists. They created a campaign under the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused. Social media users joined in by posting black squares and pausing their feeds to show support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
The People's Union USA plans another broad-based economic blackout on March 28. It is also promoting weeklong consumer boycotts of specific retailers — Walmart and Amazon — as well as global food giants Nestle and General Mills.
For his economic blackout, Schwarz advised participants to refrain from making any purchases either in stores or online, to shun fast food and to avoid filling their car gas tanks. Shoppers with emergencies or in need of essentials should support a local small business, he said.
Many research firms weren't tracking the event's immediate impact on sales. Companies may comment eventually if the various boycotts have material business consequences.
Some people posted videos on social media saying they weren't making any store purchases Friday. Some users said they brewed their morning coffee at home, packed a lunch to take to work or bought items they needed ahead of time.
Rachelle Biennestin, a first-grade teacher and TikTok content creator who lives near the Boston area, accepted the invitation not to shop Friday. She already was participating in “No Buy 2025,” a social media-driven trend that encourages participants to reduce personal over-consumption.
Biennestin said she wanted to spend less money because major companies, such as Walmart, Amazon and Target, have backed away from their DEI commitments. She redirected her business to Costco, which has stood behind its diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“I’m not going to forget that they rolled back on DEI,” Biennestin said. “I’m going to remember that, and so will my wallet.”
The no-spend day also received plenty of criticism online and inspired snarky suggestions for counter-protest shopping sprees. However, small businesses may have benefited from shoppers who decided to visit independent shops.
Mischa Roy, who owns a tea and home goods shop in Northampton, Massachusetts called Spill the Tea Sis, had reduced staffing in case the blackout made Friday slow. Instead, sales were brisk, Roy said.
“We are definitely seeing brand loyalty and small business loyalty," she said.
A number of boycotts are in the works. An Atlanta-area pastor, the Rev. Jamal Bryant, organized a website called targetfast.org to recruit Christians for a a 40-day Target boycott starting March 5, which marks Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Other faith leaders have endorsed the protest.
Target announced in January that it was ending its hiring, supplier recruitment and promotion goals for women, members of racial minority groups, LGBTQ+ people, veterans and people with disabilities. The discount retailer headquartered in Minneapolis previously had a reputation as an inclusion ally.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, announced in late January that the civil rights organization would identify two companies in the next 90 days that will be boycotted for abandoning their DEI pledges.
Some retailers may feel a slight pinch from Friday's broad “blackout.” Renewed inflation worries and Trump's threat of tariffs on imported goods already have had an effect on consumer sentiment and spending.
Anna Tuchman, a marketing professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, thinks the economic blackout will likely make a dent in daily retail sales but won't be sustainable.
“I think this is an opportunity for consumers to show that they have a voice on a single day," she said. ”I think it’s unlikely that we would see long-run sustained decreases in economic activity supported by this boycott.”
Other boycotts have produced different results.
Tuchman studied the impact of a boycott against Goya Foods during the summer of 2020 after the company's CEO praised Trump. Her research, based on data from research firm Numerator, found the brand saw a sales increase driven by first-time Goya buyers who were disproportionately from heavily Republican areas.
However, the bump proved temporary; Goya had no detectable sales increase after three weeks, Tuchman said.
It was a different story for Bud Light, which spent decades as America’s bestselling beer. Sales plummeted in 2023 after the brand sent a commemorative can to a transgender influencer. Bud Light’s sales still haven’t fully recovered, according to alcohol consulting company Bump Williams.
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AP Business Writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit contributed to this report.
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