Everything to Know About the February 28th “Economic Blackout”

As February ended, social media emerged in discourse regarding an “economic blackout.” The effort gained momentum online after John Schwarz, founder of the grassroots organization The People’s Union USA, first proposed it in a video on Instagram. Schwarz called on Americans to halt all nonessential spending on February 28, with purchases from business tycoons such as Amazon and Walmart being the most discouraged. Now that weeks have passed since the blackout, its economic impact – or lack thereof – can now be assessed.

John Schwarz, also known as “J”, is a Queens native who started The People’s Union USA with the mission of breaking free from capitalist corruption and exploitation. On the union’s website, Schwarz writes that he started the organization to “break free from a system built to exploit us” and because he believes “we deserve better”, emphasizing his concerns about the dominance of large corporations and their impact on the concentration of wealth and power among elite classes. Schwarz proposed the boycott in a video to Instagram on February 24. He called for a “day of economic resistance,” which has since tapped into the widespread frustration with corporate corruption and exploitation that has grown amongst Americans in recent years. This economic blackout strives not to be just a day-long strike; it hopes to spark the beginning of a larger movement against the prioritization of shareholder value over consumer welfare.

Since Schwarz posted the video, he has gained hundreds of thousands of new followers on TikTok and Instagram, and other frustrated Americans have posted content in support of the movement. Schwarz’s team does not define the movement as political or as a protest to a specific policy. However, as the boycott has gained traction online, many aim to specifically protest the diversity, equity, and inclusion rollbacks and federal hiring freeze implemented in the first months of Donald Trump’s second presidential term. President Trump issued an executive order to end federal DEI programs earlier this year and had terms relating to DEI removed from federal websites. As a result, many large corporations have opted to cut back on their DEI programs and policies, including  Amazon, Google, McDonalds, and Meta. In response to these rollbacks, businesses that have chosen to keep their DEI policies such as E.l.f Cosmetics have issued statements reassuring consumers that their policies are not going anywhere. 

Weeks after February 28th, the economic impact of the movement was assessed by a variety of economic analysts and experts who concluded that there was no economic impact that could not be attributed to other factors. Momentum Commerce, a digital retail consultancy, found that Amazon U.S. sales on Friday showed no significant change from previous Fridays, with a 1% increase compared to the average of the past eight weeks. While other analysts have described there being a “slight impact” on February 28th, there are many other factors that could have influenced the negative tick. Overall consumer pessimism, relating to Trump’s quick imposition of tariffs with America’s largest trading partners, as well as fear of recession, can be attributed to the larger economic trend. While stocks soared the week of Trump’s win in November, there has been a significant downward trend in the past two months. More than $3 trillion in market value has been erased from the S&P since its all-time high on February 19, as the index dropped 6%, according to FactSet data. While it is more likely that this downturn can be attributed to Trump’s tariff policies and consumer skepticism, Schwarz’s boycott movement continues and reflects not only such skepticism but also political tensions.

Today, Schwarz continues to spread content encouraging the continuation of the blackout. His latest post on Sunday reads “Amazon Blackout Continues!!! Hold the Line”, and has been met with hundreds of comments in active support of the movement. While analysts have yet to find data that shows an undeniable economic impact of this boycott, its discourse has reflected growing consumer dissatisfaction with large corporations, especially those with DEI rollbacks and exerting large financial influence such as Amazon.