There has been a long complex history recently of companies getting boycotted, the first one many think of will be Starbucks for its alignment with Israel’s values. Reportedly, the previous CEO and many current investors have supported the war, and the company in 2023 sued Starbucks Workers United over a tweet that was quickly deleted the same day in solidarity with Palestine.
This sparked outrage fueling the boycotts and some worker strikes in solidarity with Palisteans. But there have been long financial ties with Israel, while people stop buying their caramel crunch frappe, the biggest investors are still supporting Israeli military companies.
“In another example of indirect financial support for Israel… The Vanguard Group holds approximately 90.5 million shares of Starbucks (7.7%),4 and is also a top shareholder in Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest weapons company.[12] BlackRock holds approx. 84.3 million shares of Starbucks (7.2%),[13] and is also a top shareholder in Lockheed Martin, which produces fighter jets for the Israeli military and boasts of being “proud of the significant role it has fulfilled in the security of the State of Israel.”[14] reported by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.
Many critic boycotts for being individualized and performative — arguing it relies too much on personal restriction ridiculing those who don’t participate, rather than pushing blame on companies — but others would find it stronger through collective action with the most important tool, money.
“Starbucks faced economic difficulties at the end of 2023 and into the start of 2024, with lower sales and a declining share price… Starbucks’ CEO admitted that this poor performance was partially due to the role of boycotts”. Meanwhile, “McDonald’s also faced boycotts due to its Israeli franchisee’s support for the Israeli military, and the company similarly admitted that this had a negative financial impact on the company.[17]” reported by JPME.
This economic downturn can be reflected in newer political boycotts surrounding companies rolling back DEI actions and supporting deportation, particularly in the workplace.
Movements initally started strong this year from previous boycotts to “A Day Without Immigrants”, multiple Los Angeles schools reported lower attendence rates and many didn’t spend money, several local businesses closed down in protest against President Donald Trump’s strict immigration policies.
Fuel was added to the flames when President Trump rolled back the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives for the workplace. Big name companies such as Pepsi, Google, Meta platforms, Amazon, McDonald’s, Walmart and Target will not hold inclusive hiring for a more ‘equitable’ process. This can look like higher unemployment rates for Black and Brown communities — we can see this with the President firing many people accused of promoting DEI innitaives or being hired due to diversity quotas.
Netizens have organized around collectives by boycotting big names, most notable is Coca-Cola who allegedly fired Latino workers and reported them to ICE. Despite these viral posts accusing Coca-Cola, there is no credible evidence that supports this claim.
Many are unsure of the longevity of these downward trends of big corporations, with past history showing collective organizing leading to profits dropping and CEOs making statements. Something simple, yet so troubling is whether someone will buy something as small as a soda.
Management professor Brayden King at Northwestern’s Kellogg School argues, “Even if, let’s say, 5% of consumers are going to boycott — that would be a huge number — they’ll probably, if they need to buy something, just go and do it the following day. And so it wouldn’t really show up in the revenue numbers.”
But ultimately, “A national consumer boycott could still make a difference… It’s an opportunity to talk about a whole variety of grievances, and it gives people something to do,” said sociologist David Meyer at UC Irvine.
Conclusively, there is widespread skepticism about boycotts longevity and hold on big corporations, but there is agreement the same answer for how effective it will be is a question of how committed consumers are to the cause.
Written By Desiree Delgadillo, News Editor