NEW YORK — 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 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 day of spending abstinence appeared to strike a nerve online. Former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich and personal finance educator Tiffany Aliche were among those who publicly endorsed the idea, which also received plenty of criticism and snarky suggestions for counter-protest shopping sprees.
As of mid-day, 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.
Here are some details about the various events and experts’ thoughts on whether having consumers keep their wallets closed is an effective tool for influencing the positions corporations take.
The People’s Union USA, which takes credit for initiating the no-spend day, was founded by John Schwarz, a meditation teacher who lives near the Chicago area, according to his social media accounts. Requests for comment sent to the group’s email address this week did not receive a reply.
The planned blackout started at 12 a.m. EST and was set to run through 11:59 p.m. EST. 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.
The term “Blackout” previously was applied to a 2020 protest in which social media users posted black squares and paused their feeds to show support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Two Black women in the music industry, Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang, first formulated the campaign under the hashtag #TheShowMustBePaused.
The People’s Union 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.
Many research firms weren’t tracking the economic blackout’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.”
Small businesses may have benefited from shoppers who decided to use the day 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, noting that many of her loyal customers bought atypical items like crystals and candles.
“We are definitely seeing brand loyalty and small business loyalty,” she said.
There are a number of boycotts being planned, particularly aimed at Target. The discount chain, which in the past backed diversity and inclusion efforts, 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.
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.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network, a civil rights organization, announced in late January it would identify two companies in the next 90 days that will be boycotted for abandoning their diversity, equity and inclusion 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.
Target saw a drop in sales in the spring and summer quarter of 2023 that the discounter attributed in part to customer backlash over a collection honoring LGBTQ+ communities for Pride Month. As a result, Target didn’t carry Pride merchandise in all of its stores the following year.
Tuchman studied the impact of a boycott against Goya Foods during the summer of 2020 after the company’s CEO praised Trump. But her study, based on sales 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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