An editor once told me, “You’ll go far challenging conventional wisdom.” What’s the most relevant piece of conventional wisdom? “Boycotts don’t work.” You hear that a lot, but it seems counter to what I learned when I worked for Quaker Oats, the big consumer-facing company. The fear of any consumer action was palpable there. Reputation mattered. As more folks talk about boycotting Target, I thought I’d dig into that idea. A recent Harris poll says nearly 40% of Americans have already changed how they spend in recent months to align with their morality.
As I’ve been researching Black economic stories for my book, it’s hard not to see that collective actions have long jump-started social and political change. From economic boycotts to labor strikes, history shows that when people unite, they change things.
(I leaned heavily on economic podcasts which I list at the end. )
A boycott, to be sure of terms, is when people refuse to purchase or engage with products or services to protest policies or practices. The heavyweight champion of boycotts is the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956. Rosa Parks' defiance of segregation on the bus and her arrest sparked the boycott. The Black community in Montgomery, Alabama, organized a 381-day boycott of the city's bus system. (Always gotta say that Claudette Colvin was arrested first. Putting respect on her name.) The mass protest was orchestrated by Jo Ann Robinson and the Women's Political Council.
The groups planned the boycott for a whole year BEFORE it kicked off! That planning and 54 weeks of boycott led to a Supreme Court decision declaring bus segregation unconstitutional. The boycott not only desegregated public transportation but it set off the broader Civil Rights Movement.
Meanwhile, if we think globally, the anti-apartheid boycott against South Africa during the 1980s stands out. International communities, including governments, businesses, universities, and consumers held a sustained boycott in opposition to apartheid. The sustained economic pressure contribute to the dismantling of the apartheid and the ultimate election of Nelson Mandela.
Another example is the United Farm Workers grape boycott in the 1960s. It was led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. Farmworkers in California went on strike for better wages and working conditions, but their biggest success came from a nationwide consumer boycott of grapes. According to Marketplace, grocery stores saw sales plummet, and after five years, growers agreed to contracts that recognized the union and improved wages.
Senator Robert Kennedy and Caesar Chavez, The Caesar Chavez Foundation
The Role of Strikes in Forcing Change
In the U.S. we focus on boycotts because capitalism is our state religion. While boycotts go after consumption, strikes focus on the workforce. General strikes, where workers across various sectors stop working, have paralyzed economies and forced change. A strike can also be a single or group of actions that include a boycott.
In the U.S. the example that stands out is the Seattle General Strike of 1919. 60,000 workers shut down the city in a show of support for shipyard workers. That strike ended without immediate concessions but showed business and government the power of unified action.
Internationally, the French have elevated the general strike to an art. France's landmark general strike in 1936 created labor reforms that lasted through Nazi occupation and still shape French culture today. Millions of workers occupied factories, demanding better working conditions. The Matignon Agreements, came out of that strive and gave France the 40-hour workweek and paid vacations.
The success of boycotts and strikes often hinges on organization, clear objectives, and widespread participation. The Women's Political Council's meticulous planning is why the Montgomery Bus Boycott was a palpable success. In the same vein, France's 1936 strike is possibly the best example of the power of collective action and bargaining.
In Poland in 1980, strikes led by the Solidarity movement made the communist government negotiate with workers. Those collective actions set off a chain reaction that eventually brought down Poland’s Soviet-backed regime. In Argentina, mass labor strikes played a role in resisting military dictatorships and pushing for democratic reforms in the 1970s and 1980s
The threat of a boycott is often all it takes. In 2001, Reverend Jesse Jackson and his Rainbow PUSH Coalition threatened a boycott against Toyota over a print ad that featured a smiling black man with a gold tooth shaped like a Toyota logo. Toyota issued an apology and committed to improving its advertising to Black minority consumers. This incident forced Toyota to create a diversity equity and inclusion plan, which included a system to check ads to see if they were offensive and hire minority ad firms. I’d argue this is what led to Toyota becoming the number 1 retail car brand.
The most recent boycotts have been mixed. Chick-fil-A, for example, has only grown in popularity, profits, and footprint. That’s despite boycotts over its past donations to anti-LGBTQ+ organizations. On the other hand, the Bud Light boycott in 2023 hit Anheuser-Busch hard. After partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, conservatives launched a boycott. Bud Light lost its spot as America’s top-selling beer. Sales dropped 26% drop in sales in just a month.
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A Code: Making Companies Earn Your Money
History tells us that the power of boycotts and strikes is in their ability to be well-organized, sustained, and supported by a lot of people. The most influential movements succeed because they combine economic pressure, solidarity, and a demand for accountability from corporations and governments.
When consumers stop spending or workers stop working, the financial impact can not be ignored. Economics isn’t enough. The strongest movements, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the fight against apartheid, and the efforts of the United Farm Workers were successful because they united large groups of people, often across race, class, and political divides. These coalitions had shared goals, and folks were committed to the ideas long-term.
Even when if they aren’t victorious immediately, boycotts and strikes can shift the public narrative. As Omar (from The Wire) said, “A man’s gotta have a code.” There’s a sneaker brand I’ve been boycotting since 1985. I love Lou Malnati’s pizza, but I’ve been boycotting the one on State & Rush for decades.
As a consumer, I don’t believe in brand loyalty. As someone who’s reported extensively on retail, I truly believe we should make companies dance for our money. Here’s a universal truth: when people come together, stand firm, and hold back their labor or money, they can challenge the status quo—and change the future. The retail graveyard is filled with the recently deceased. No brick-and-mortar retailer can afford to lose foot traffic.
If you want to binge podcasts about strikes and boycotts, which I did, here’s some good listening.
Yup. Colvin was pregnant and unmarried, so she wasn't going to pass media scrutiny. Saw her 10 years ago at the Selma bridge-crossing anniversary.
You could argue that Reverend Jesse Jackson’s threat of a boycott in 2001 is what led to Toyota becoming the number 1 retail car brand.
If it hadn’t taken 20 years.