A week-long Amazon boycott began Friday. What to know in Wisconsin
Consumers across the country, including in Wisconsin, are participating in a weeklong boycott of Amazon beginning Friday, the latest in a series of spending freezes protesting the reversal of DEI initiatives at major corporations across the U.S.
The boycott, organized by the same activists who planned the 24-hour economic spending blackout on Feb. 28, will last through Friday, March 14. It seeks to significantly drive down sales at the online retailer in response to the its decision to end DEI efforts at the corporation.
There are even more boycotts on the way for other companies, including several other weeklong actions, another economic spending blackout and a 40-day Target fast.
Here's what to know:
The Feb. 28 economic blackout, organized by The People's Union USA, and subsequent boycotts on Amazon, Target and other retailers were planned to protest the major corporations rolling back DEI policies.
Amazon made news in January after Bloomberg reported the retailer was halting its DEI policies, a move that was announced in an internal note to employees. The company also removed all mentions of diversity and inclusion from its annual report in February.
More: A 40-day boycott of Target begins this week. Here's what Wisconsinites should know about it
It is difficult to gauge the economic impact of a 24-hour action with data. However, USA TODAY collected information from several different firms that shows both the boycott had some potential impact in affecting in-person and e-commerce traffic at some retailers. Amazon sales stayed roughly the same.
More: What are the results from the Feb. 28 economic blackout? See what data shows.
A 40-day Target boycott kicked off on Wednesday and will run until April 17, or the end of Lent.
The People's Union has several other boycotts planned throughout spring, USA TODAY reported. After Amazon, a boycott of Nestle is scheduled for March 21 to March 28 while a Walmart boycott is slated for April 7 to April 14.
A second, broader one-day economic blackout is also slated for April 18. The group is then calling for a General Mills boycott from April 21 to April 28.
Social media posts — using #LatinoFreezeMovement and #LatinoFreeze — have also encouraged consumers to "hold your money'' amid freezes on DEI initiatives, National Institutes of Health funding and immigration actions.
The National Action Network, founded by Rev. Al Sharpton, also said in a Feb. 25 news release that it will announce an authorized boycott at the NAN Convention in early April.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Amazon boycott: What to know about 7-day spending freeze in Wisconsin
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