Why are Customers Boycotting Amazon, Target and Home Depot?
A coalition of grassroots organizations is calling for holiday shoppers to boycott Amazon, Target, and Home Depot for abandoning diversity, equity, and inclusion programs after pressure from President Trump and conservative activists.
The "We Ain't Buying It" campaign launches just as retailers gear up for their most crucial sales period of the year. Black Voters Matter, Indivisible, and Until Freedom organized the effort "to demonstrate to corporations that there are consequences for not standing up loudly for freedom and core democratic principles of fairness, justice and liberty."
The Strategy
Instead of shopping at retailers that backed down, the campaign asks people to support businesses that stood up to Trump, plus Black, minority, and immigrant-owned businesses and local shops.
Instead of fighting back and supporting the very people who put money in their pockets, corporations and retailers have bowed at Trump's feet," said LaTosha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. "But we ain't buying it.
She listed what they're not buying: SNAP benefits being withheld during the holidays, families being separated by ICE agents, DEI commitments tossed aside for political convenience, and the idea that corporations are powerless.
PricewaterhouseCoopers surveys show shoppers expect to reduce holiday spending by 5% this year compared to last year—the first significant drop since 2020. Retailers are already nervous. A boycott campaign during Black Friday and the holiday season makes them more nervous.
The Corporate Tightrope
This is the latest example of corporations getting caught in culture war crossfire. No matter which side they pick, they lose customers.
Conservative activists like Robby Starbuck and Matt Walsh pressured Walmart, Ford, Harley-Davidson, and Tractor Supply to scale back DEI programs. Cracker Barrel got forced to backtrack on plans to update its vintage logo after accusations of going "woke" and abandoning conservative values.
From the other direction, Bud Light took a massive hit after conservative backlash over a social media campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Target moved Pride displays from store entrances to the back after shoppers confronted employees and vandalized displays. Last year, Target scaled back its Pride collection and didn't carry it in all stores. Then a boycott over the company's DEI retreat hit from the left, contributing to Target recently announcing cuts of around 1,800 corporate roles.
Michael Jordan's infamous "Republicans buy sneakers, too" comment from 1990 keeps getting quoted for a reason. Companies want everyone's money, which means not alienating anyone. Good luck with that in 2025.
Do Boycotts Actually Work?
A recent study of the Tesla boycott suggested Elon Musk's "polarizing and partisan" political activities cost over 1 million U.S. car sales between October 2022 and April 2025.
"By the first quarter of 2025, we find that without the Musk partisan effect, Tesla monthly sales would have been about 150% higher," Yale researchers said.
That's substantial. But shorter boycotts don't always pack the same punch.
Brayden King, a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, told USA TODAY that boycotts asking shoppers to avoid businesses during specific blackout periods sometimes don't have the same economic impact as sustained boycotts.
Shoppers just buy before or after the blackout period. And during longer boycotts, "it's difficult to convince enough consumers to make those purchasing changes to make a dent at all in the bottom line," King said.
The Holiday Timing
Launching this campaign right before the holiday shopping season is strategic. Retailers make huge portions of their annual revenue between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Losing even a small percentage of customers during that window hurts.
But pulling off a successful boycott requires getting enough people to actually follow through. Posting about boycotts on social media is easy. Not shopping at Amazon, Target, or Home Depot during the holidays when they have the best deals takes more commitment.
The campaign wants people to shop at businesses that stood up to Trump or support minority and local businesses instead. Whether enough consumers will make that switch to impact bottom lines remains to be seen.
The Bigger Problem
Corporations face impossible choices in polarized America. Support DEI programs and face conservative backlash. Drop DEI programs and face progressive backlash. There's no neutral position anymore.
Amazon, Target, and Home Depot likely ran the numbers and decided conservative pressure presented bigger financial risk than progressive boycotts. Maybe they calculated wrong. Or maybe they're betting this boycott won't gain enough traction to matter.
Companies care about money. If boycotts don't hurt sales, they don't work. If they do hurt sales, companies change course. Simple as that.
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