Recent boycotts have powerful impact
March 31, 2017
Since the Election in Nov. and the Inauguration in Jan., many people have been organizing protests in response as ways to express their outrage. Protests have ranged from full on marches to boycotting apps such as uber. Company protests have been growing in size and organizations such as #grabyourwallet have been putting Trump-related companies on blast to the public. They have been generating buzz around controversial brands, causing people to believe that these boycotts do work.
Recently, the hashtag #DeleteUber went flying around social media, urging those with the app to get rid of it in response to uber finding a way to profit from an anti-Trump rally at JFK airport, as well as sexual assault allegations made by former Uber engineer. Since this hashtag came out, more than 200,000 people have done as the tag states.
The response to this, in the grand scheme of things, is not technically significant. However, to have such a large response to something as simple as a hashtag, this is impressive in such a politically divided country.
Boycotts such as these are not strictly Trump-related however. Right wing boycotts have been organized as well, such as the tag #AnywhereButTarget in response to Target encouraging transgender team members to utilise whichever bathroom they felt comfortable with. It also was organized in response to LGBT+ inclusive advertising.
Loading ...This boycott proves to conservatives that boycotts are not just ‘Liberal Shenanigans’, and can be applied to any situation. This further proves that boycotts can work, and are not just a waste of time.
Boycotts do not always work. In capitalistic America, it can be hard to convince consumers to change their consumption tendencies. While those who feel very strongly about their ideologies are more willing to participate, many Americans feel more neutral, and are not as willing.
American habit can be detrimental to progress in United States government, whether it is Democratic or Republican. If we don’t attempt to make change, it will never happen, and then people will just continue to be upset.
Though it may be hard for Americans to change their consumer habits, the large consumer culture of the US is what makes these boycotts have an impact. Without the customer, brands can’t thrive in such a capitalistic country, and are forced to make changes that will reel the customer back in.
This capitalistic nature makes these boycotts successful, and then with the forced response, higher powers will see that people want change in their world.