Consumer boycotts are working

This post was updated on February 8 after Nordstrom dropped the Trump product line and share price rebounded by 5 percent. Uber also abandoned support for the administration last week and donated $1 million to the resistance movement.

Consumer boycotts seem to be picking up more steam this week against a handful of companies like Amazon, Yuengling, Miller/Coors, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, Sears, Zappos, Overstock, Elder Beerman and Ultimate Fight Championship for their action in supporting Trump. The only boycotts that affect me are were giving an occasional Yuengling, Coors or Miller Lite. Otherwise I try to shop small and local anyway and don’t use many online or physical large retailers other than Amazon. So my occasional beer or rare online purchase boycott from a vendor on this list won’t make much of a difference. Even so, I have switched to several different online vendors to avoid Amazon.

Tonight leading environmentalist Bill McKibbon reported that the #deleteUber movement is working. Lyft, after announcing a $1 million donation to the effort to resist Trump, reportedly surpassed Uber in downloads for the first time ever today.

I wonder how much affect the consumer boycotts are having on sales at these unpatriotic companies? I saw one article that suggested the impact was significant for Yuengling in the Philadelphia area that is so strongly anti-Trump. Also, I know of local restaurants that don’t carry the brand anymore. Other than that, I don’t know. I’m sure we will read more in business publications so I’ll keep my eyes open and comment here on anything interesting.

At this point it appears that about half of the companies targeted for boycott have made adjusting moves. We will continue to look for response in the others.


Comments

5 responses to “Consumer boycotts are working”

  1. Tony Novak, CPA Avatar
    Tony Novak, CPA

    Uber has also turned on Trump per CBS News this morning.

  2. The important point of these boycotts is to remember to follow up & make sure that these companies stay true to the American public, “WE THE PEOPLE” and when things die down they funnel financial/other support to frump industries or reverse their positions.

  3. […] sure-fire impact that an individual can have is to control the flow of their finances. We know that consumer boycotts are effective. When boycotting government, however, extra precautions need to be taken to avoid […]

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