Millions of Americans will hit the streets Friday, Nov. 28, as retailers offer a bounty of Black Friday deals and savings, and millions more will check for sales on Cyber Monday. But some people will keep their wallets and pocketbooks firmly closed due to a couple of boycott campaigns protesting the Trump administration and economic inequality.
The “We Ain’t Buying It” buycott campaign aims directly at three specific retailers, Target, Amazon and Home Depot, because organizers said those companies “caved” to Trump administration demands. The “Mass Blackout” campaign urges Americans to stop all spending, eating out or even working through Dec. 2. The People’s Union USA, which has promoted several economic blackouts this year, has called for a week of “economic resistance” starting Friday.
Are shoppers listening?
According to a USA TODAY Network-Florida poll posted Tuesday, Nov. 25, opinions are mixed.
Poll: Will you avoid buying anything from the targeted stores?
As of 9 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 28, or Black Friday, nearly 57% of 1,217 respondents said they will not be avoiding the targeted stores in the “We Ain’t Buying It” campaign, but 41.25% said they would.
Just over 2% said they weren’t sure.
‘We Ain’t Buying It’ campaign urges Americans to ‘hit pause on shopping’ over Thanksgiving
“We Ain’t Buying It” is an economic action and solidarity campaign designed to defend democracy and reclaim community power,” the organization said on its website.
“We’re asking Americans to hit pause on shopping from major corporations that have caved to the administration’s policies. Instead, we’ll stand together for family, freedom, and the future we deserve.”
Three stores are specifically targeted in the “We Ain’t Buying It” campaign:
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Amazon: “for funding this administration to secure their own corporate tax cuts.”
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Home Depot: “for allowing and colluding with ICE to kidnap our neighbors on their properties.”
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Target: “for caving to this administration’s biased attacks on DEI.”
When is the ‘We Ain’t Buying It’ campaign?
The campaign is scheduled to take place Nov. 27 through Dec. 1, which is Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday.
“During a crucial week for retailers, we’ll show them that our values aren’t for sale.”
‘Mass Blackout’ campaign wants retail shutdown
The “Mass Blackout” campaign is wider in scale and scope, asking Americans to stop all spending and refuse to go to work from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2. The boycott was organized by several activist groups: Blackout the System, The People’s Sick Day, American Opposition, the Money Out of Politics Movement, and The Progressive Network.
Avoid travel and restaurants and cancel streaming and digital subscriptions, organizers said. “If you must spend: support small, local businesses only. Pay in cash.”
Small Business Saturday on Nov. 30 is exempted from the blackout.
“We are living under a political system captured by special interests, where billionaires and corporations write the rules,” Isaiah Rucker Jr., founder of Blackout the System, said in a statement. “Congress serves donors, not the American people, and democratic norms are being dismantled in front of our eyes, with corporate backing. This campaign is about showing them where the power truly lies, with the people.”
When is the Black Friday to Cyber Week Economic Blackout?
The campaign from The People’s Union USA runs from Friday, Nov. 28, through Friday, Dec. 5, and urges shoppers to avoid all major retailers and corporations and support “local, independent, and ethical businesses” instead to remind big businesses and “we are the economy.”
The People’s Union USA is also planning boycotts throughout December up to New Year’s Eve.
“December is also the month where consumerism reaches its peak,” the site said. “‘Holiday spirit’ has been weaponized into pressure, guilt, and overspending. Families go into debt to fulfill expectations created by companies that do not care about their lives, their wages, or their future.
“This year, we break that cycle.”
Do boycotts work?
Sometimes.
Many shoppers have chosen economic resistance to protest rising prices, corporate malfeasance, and/or compliance with to anti-DEI pressure or immigration policies from the Trump administration. A recent Yale study determined that Tesla boycotts over billionaire and former Trump DOGE chief Elon Musk’s “polarizing and partisan” political activities lost the company over 1 million U.S. car sales from October 2022 (when Musk bought Twitter) to April 2025.
Target admitted a loss in revenue and damage to its reputation in its report for fiscal year 2024 after pressure from both sides. Conservative customers slammed the retailer for its Pride merchandise, but after it scaled back its Pride display and retreated on its DEI policies, progressive shoppers rallied against them. The retail chain recently announced a price drop on 3,000 food items.
Walmart, Ford, Harley-Davidson and Tractor Supply have all rolled back their DEI efforts amid consumer pressure.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel was taken off the air following criticism from Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr about Kimmel’s Sept. 15 “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” monologue about the “MAGA gang’s” response to Charlie Kirk’s killing. Within days of celebrity protests and about three million Disney-owned Hulu cancellations, the network brought him back on the air.
Recently, Cracker Barrel was under the gun from a largely manufactured pressure campaign accusing the restaurant chain of bowing to “wokeness” when it unveiled a new, simplified logo that still featured the company’s classic gold and brown color look but removed the “Old Timer,” a man seated next to a wooden barrel. Reaction and pushback was passionate and the company’s stock dropped neatly $10 in one day. Plans for the new logo were quickly dropped.
Ongoing and sustained boycotts against specific companies work better than boycotts with start and end dates, according to Brayden King, a professor of management and organizations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Shoppers will buy before or after the blackout, he said. It can also be difficult during longer boycotts “to convince enough consumers to make those purchasing changes to make a dent at all in the bottom line,” King said.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida shoppers torn over Black Friday boycott, poll shows
