Welcome to Signal in the Noise, where we show you the real-world impact behind trending news.
A lot is going on in the world around us. We spend most of our time trying to stay caught up on the ‘what happened,’ but here, we’ll focus on the impact. What is the data telling us, and more importantly, what can we do about it?
The big beautiful boycott(s)
From crowds booing U.S. Vice President JD Vance at the Winter Olympics… to staff protesting Target stores in Minneapolis… to ICE Out pins worn at the Grammys… to the Bad Bunny halftime Super Bowl “woke” outrage… the anger and backlash against the U.S. and large corporations are loud and clear.
This month, a "put your money where your mouth is" trend has evolved from social media noise into a coordinated economic lever. Recent events have triggered a wave of activism targeting major brands, making it nearly impossible for corporations to remain "neutral." We are tracking a surge in organized movements, including:
- The People’s Union USA, organizers of last year’s “Economic Blackout,” now target Amazon, CBS, Home Depot, Starbucks, Target, and Walmart.
- The “Resist and Unsubscribe” Campaign: Scott Galloway’s month-long national economic strike targeting tech industry giants like Amazon, Apple, and Google.
- ICE Out Protests against deemed “active enablers”: AT&T, Microsoft, Dell, Comcast, FedEx, Marriott, Salesforce, and Spotify.
- On the other end, conservative backlash, not just against Bad Bunny, includes condemning companies like Ben & Jerry’s, Patagonia, REI, and others.
The question we’re asking: Are these consumer boycotts doing the most reputational damage, or are they a distraction from bigger, looming threats?
The People’s Union USA: “Economic Blackout” volume trends show spikes in February 2025, followed by a trailing off
Back in February 2025, The People’s Union USA called for a 24-hour “Economic Blackout” to protest against corporate greed and the rollback of DEI initiatives. This call to action didn’t name as many corporations—Ford, McDonald’s, Meta, Target, and Walmart were singled out for their DEI rollbacks—but instead focused on voicing disagreement with “major retailers.”
Volume trends show that boycotts like these pick up steam quickly but fade out just as fast. Of course, impact isn’t measured solely by volume or reach; factors like sentiment, velocity should be considered as well.
“Resist and Unsubscribe”: For the tech industry, activism is a lower priority risk—instead, unplanned shutdowns, workforce layoffs, and legal activity are the top risks
Signal AI data shows that while boycotts generate noise, their long-term media impact on the “Resist and Unsubscribe” campaign targets is significantly lower than that of operational failures.
Using Signal AI’s Risk Dashboards feature, operational accidents (e.g., unplanned shutdowns) and People & HR (e.g., workforce layoffs) sit in the "high frequency, high impact" quadrant of our risk matrix, meaning a single service outage or a poorly managed redundancy round creates a more durable negative sentiment footprint than a month-long subscription strike. In the graphic below (left), you'll see Activism sits in the "low frequency, low impact" quadrant.
Within the matrix, we can look at risks by pillar (People & HR) or by event (Layoffs), for both breadth and depth. This view (right) in the Risk Dashboard shows us the risks to the Tech Industry cohort by pillar.
ICE Out Protests: Spotify is an outlier for activism risk—boycotts account for nearly 30% of Spotify’s total coverage, with 95.6% negative sentiment.
The ICE Out protests have targeted those they call “active enablers.” As you’ll see below, when evaluating this cohort, Spotify scored the highest for the “Activism” risk pillar.
Signal AI platform analysis using Ask AIQ shows that boycotts account for 29% of Spotify’s total coverage, with sentiment skewing 95.6% negative. For reputation professionals, this proves that when a brand’s value proposition is rooted in culture, social activism isn't just noise—it's a fundamental threat to the brand’s license to operate.
Final thoughts
Are these boycotts making an economic dent? There are many factors at play. Consumers are also pulling back on spending due to inflation and economic concerns. Just look at Gen Z’s month-long “No Buy” trend kicked off in early February.
Maybe in most cases, the outrage of the masses can be drowned out by other noise—but this could be a case of death by a thousand whispers.
As sporting events continue and Paris Fashion Week quickly approaches, the "no buy" lists are likely to expand to new sectors. PR, Reputation, and Risk professionals should look beyond the loudest voices on social media and use trusted data to distinguish between "peak outrage" and "permanent shift." Your next move is to audit your brand's association with "active enablers"—is your brand being cited as a solution, or is it becoming a target in the new economic strike landscape?
Now what?
You make important decisions every day as a business leader. That’s why you need trusted data to help you build a more informed strategy and make more confident business decisions.
Signal AI helps you map your next move by delivering market trend analysis that highlights both hidden business risks and whitespace opportunities, giving you the foresight to shape your long-term plan.
Resource Round-Up
Resources
- https://www.azcentral.com/story/money/business/consumers/2025/02/28/boycott-feb-28-2025/80839246007/
- https://www.adweek.com/media/scott-galloways-unsubscribe-uprising-is-a-feel-good-fantasy/
- https://www.billboard.com/business/streaming/sylvan-esso-pulling-catalog-spotify-1236078516/
- https://www.politico.eu/article/winter-olympics-european-pride-boo-jd-vance-kaja-kallas/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g4y4gwjpeo
- https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/06/rise-stars-red-carpet-wearing-ice-protest-badges
- https://www.masslive.com/entertainment/2026/02/bad-bunny-super-bowl-show-sparks-fiery-maga-outrage-over-spanishperformance.html#:~:text=Conservative%20commentator%20Benny%20Johnson%20described,people%20together%20with%20their%20creativity.%E2%80%9D
- https://www.profgalloway.com/resist-and-unsubscribe/
- https://bigbeautifulboycott.us/company/
- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/economic-blackout-feb-24-hour-february-28-2025-peoples-union/