McDonald’s is currently facing a boycott initiated by The People’s Union USA, a grassroots advocacy group. The boycott, which began on June 24, is part of a broader movement against companies that have rolled back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. McDonald’s had previously announced changes to its DEI programs in January, citing an evolving landscape around these efforts.
The People’s Union, led by John Schwarz, argues that the fast-food giant prioritizes profit over people, pointing to issues such as price increases and perceived inequities in pay and advertising. Schwarz claims that McDonald’s DEI efforts appear more like promotional tactics than meaningful systemic change.
In response, McDonald’s stated that the claims against them are misleading and emphasized their commitment to inclusion and community support through their franchise model. Despite this, the boycott comes at a challenging time for McDonald’s, which reported a significant drop in U.S. sales during the first quarter of the year.
The group also plans to target other major companies, including Walmart and Amazon, with similar actions.
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McDonald’s ‘economic blackout’: Why the fast-food giant is facing a boycott
Where’s the beef? This week, at McDonald’s. A boycott targeting the fast-food chain that started June 24 is the latest in a series of consumer actions from the grassroots advocacy group The People ‘s Union USA. Led by John Schwarz, The People ‘s Union began organizing “economic blackouts” in February motivated by the corporate rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion programs as well as other grievances. McDonald’s was one of the corporations to roll back its DEI initiatives in January. Citing the “evolving landscape around DEI,” it stopped setting goals to increase diversity in senior leadership and ended a program that encouraged diversity among its suppliers. McDonald’s chief people officer for the U.S. market Jordann Nunn in June told a human-resources conference that the company changed some of its DEI language “but at the core, none of our programming has changed.” Trump Juneteenth backlash Trump DEI attacks changed how companies celebrated Juneteenth. Boycotts fight Trump war on DEI. The backlash against DEI gained momentum during the 2024 presidential campaign but hit a fever pitch when President Donald Trump took office and issued a series of executive orders aimed at eliminating “illegal DEI” in the federal government and the private sector. As the Democratic Party struggles to respond to the Trump-led culture war, pro-DEI consumers have emerged as the first line of defense for Democrats. Taking a page from activists who mounted effective anti-DEI campaigns against Bud Light and Target, Black churches and community activists have put pressure on companies rolling back DEI initiatives with a string of boycotts. It’s unclear how much of an impact these boycotts are having on the bottom line. Target cited its decision to end some diversity policies as a contributor to the sharp pullback in consumer spending in the first quarter as church pastors and other community activists launched protests, spreading word of planned boycotts on social media. The retail giant said the boycotts dented its first-quarter performance but could not estimate by how much. Foot traffic declined for four straight months, according to Placer.ai data. Placer.ai is a service that provides location-based data to public and private organizations, according to its website. McDonald ‘s boycott comes after sales decline. This week’s boycott comes at an inopportune moment for McDonald’s. Buffeted by economic headwinds, U.S. sales fell sharply in the first quarter – the largest drop in its home market since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 – despite efforts to win back diners with menu changes and deals after hiking prices. McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said at the time consumers were “grappling with uncertainty” but that he remained optimistic his company can navigate “even the toughest of market conditions.” McDonald’s did not respond to a request for comment on the boycott. Why is there a McDonald ‘s boycott? On Instagram, Schwarz listed five reasons for The People ‘s Union boycott of McDonald’s. “We’re boycotting McDonald’s because they’ve shown time and time again that profit matters more than people, from price gouging to tax evasion, from inequality in pay to exploitation in advertising,” he told USA TODAY. “And yes, their DEI efforts feel more like promotional stunts than real systemic change. We’re done funding companies that pretend to stand for something while doing nothing.” In a statement, McDonald ‘s said it was “disappointed to see these misleading claims that distort our values and misrepresent our actions.” Its 2,000 local franchisees in the U.S. serve as an “engine of economic opportunity” for communities and generate billions in federal, state and local taxes annually, the company said. “As a brand that serves millions of people every day, McDonald’s opens our doors to everyone, and our commitment to inclusion remains steadfast,” McDonald’s said. How many McDonald ‘s locations are in Ohio? There are 613 McDonald ‘s restaurants in Ohio, according to the web scraping tool ScrapeHero. Only California, Texas, Florida and Illinois have more locations than Ohio. More boycotts planned against Walmart, Amazon. Schwarz also shared a flyer on social media that lists upcoming boycotts against Starbucks, Amazon, Home Depot, Walmart and Lowe’s.