The ‘economic blackout’ movement now wants you to boycott Amazon, starting today

After a viral social media campaign to spend no money at big-box stores happened last week, a fresh one begins Friday targeting Amazon.

A grassroots movement’s call for Americans not to shop at major chains for 24 hours in an “economic blackout” last week went viral — and now, its organizer is launching a weeklong boycott against Amazon that starts Friday. John Schwarz, the 57-year-old founder of The People’s Union USA, is calling on Americans to boycott Amazon and its companies, including Zappos, Ring, Whole Foods, Twitch and Prime Video, for one week. The Amazon boycott is about “sending a message loud enough to shake up the system” and rattle the company, Schwarz said Thursday on his Instagram account. “Amazon is one of the biggest, wealthiest, most powerful corporations in the world,” he said in a video. “It crushes small businesses. It exploits its workers. It fights against unions while raking in billions. It could make a positive difference in the world, but it chooses not to.” Schwarz is leveraging the attention from the wider “economic blackout” on February 28. He told CNN in an interview last week that he hadn’t expect much traction for his post, which was viewed millions of times. Celebrities like Stephen King and Bette Midler encouraged participation, and reporters wrote and aired TV pieces about it. On The People’s Union USA’s website, Schwarz calls the group “a grassroots movement dedicated to economic resistance, government accountability, and corporate reform,” adding that the “goal is to unite Americans against the corruption and greed that has kept us struggling for decades.”