The Feb. 28 shopping blackout was designed to encourage consumers to pause all non-essential economic spending, such as fast food and gas, especially from major retailers such as Walmart and Amazon. The founder touts it as a way for us to showcase our economic power, especially during an era of instability in traditionally stable government careers. The movement has gotten a lot of traction on social media. 

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Does Economic Resistance Even Work? 

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Economic resistance. It's a seemingly rare way for Americans to protest in the last few years, where peaceful insurrections and a few busses on fire are often the chosen mechanism for us to express ourselves. 

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However, economic resistance has strong roots. Even if the tree is tiny right now, it signals an upcoming maturity in our growing frustration with inflation, and rising cost of living and goods. One of the earliest examples of effective economic resistance was the Boston Tea Party of 1773. The 381-day-long Montgomery Bus Boycott led to the desegregation of the public transport system and became a model for non-violent protest. The Delano Grape Strike from 1965 to 1970 led to the nation's firm farm workers' union. Some more big corporate ones include the Nestle boycott to protect babies in developing countries and the Shell Oil boycott to encourage them to be slightly less bad for the environment. Keep in mind, all of these happened when the minorities benefiting from them were genuinely disenfranchised and didn't have nearly the economic power or mainstream presence that supporters likely have today. 

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While the Feb 28. blackout has not made history, it is indicative of a historical pivot and frustration with the economy that hasn't been calmed, despite Trump taking office and being pretty active with announcing tariffs and the DOGE cutting costs. Modern consumers feel the strain and middle-class workers are now in a heightened state of anxiety. The movement organizer's slogan "We Control The Economy" underscores a shift from anxiety to anger, ready to take back greater control. 

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Is Social Media Leading Us To Overestimate Our Activist Power? 

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Unfortunately, according to the data, it looks like the boycott didn't catch on nearly as much steam as it could have or as much as my social media feed hoped it to be. The reasons exactly why are unclear, but are a few likely factors, such as the tangible impact of social media activism and collective action paralysis. 

 

There are a lot of great movements being spread through social media and communities created that provide a safe haven for those who otherwise wouldn't have one. However, social media allows our action to also just be a story and satisfies our need to actually execute the performative aspect in real life. After all, how much did posting black square actually do. Normal people who felt guilty and wanted to do the right thing resorted to performative activism likely at the expense of channeling that guilt into action. This bleeds into collective action paralysis where we're convinced that since others are taking action, we don't need to (similar to voting).

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Consumers Are Reframing & Rebalancing Their Relationship with Corporate America.

 

Even without a planned protest, consumers are already becoming more conscious and lean towards ethical spending. They are more aware than ever before, and more willing to let their purchasing habits reflect their political beliefs.

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