McDonald’s is facing a potential boycott from customers over its decision to roll back its diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
The People’s Union USA is spearheading the “McDonald’s Blackout,” which begins on June 24, after having staged an “Economic Blackout” in February. The organization, founded by Chicago-based musician and meditation teacher John Schwarz, has staged boycott campaigns in order to mount an “economic resistance,” per its website.
“The idea that DEI initiatives should be abandoned is backward, regressive, and dangerous. Every American deserves a fair shot at success, and that includes every race, every background, every belief system. Period,” The People’s Union says on its website.
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The fast-food chain announced in January that it would be rolling back some of their DEI policies. McDonald’s announced it would no longer set “aspirational representational goals” for hiring and promoting particular demographics, no longer participate in external workplace surveys, end their “Supply Chain’s Mutual Commitment to DEI pledge” and change the name of its Diversity Team to the “Global Inclusion Team.”
“This is about more than burgers and fries, this is about power. When we unite and hit corporations in their wallets, they listen… This week, we’re taking a stand. No McDonald’s. No compromise,” The People’s Union said on an Instagram post advertising the blackout.
Among the organization’s demands are “an end to price gouging, real equality and corporate accountability.” In a different Instagram post, the People’s Union bashed McDonald’s for “false DEI promises.
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Companies across America, from Google, to Facebook, to Wal Mart have all ended or significantly scaled back their DEI initiatives following Trump’s re-election. Upon taking office, Trump signed multiple executive orders targeting “illegal DEI” and banned federal agencies from contracting with companies that engage in DEI practices.
Recently, a McDonald’s executive suggested that the company’s DEI changes were largely cosmetic, and that the company still retained their core programs, including corporate affinity groups for employees and public reporting of company demographics.
“We changed some of the language that we’ve used it around it, but at the core none of our programming has changed… we have no intention of doing that,” said McDonald’s Chief Field People Officer Jordann Nunn at the From Day One human resources conference in Chicago in June.
McDonald’s is not the first company to find itself the target of an economic boycott around its DEI policies. Target faced a 40-day boycott spearheaded by Atlanta-based Rev. Jamal Bryant, who encouraged consumers not to shop at the retail chain for the entirety of Lent in April after they announced they would be rolling back their DEI programs.
Target has experienced a sales slump as of late, which the company attributes in part to the backlash surrounding their retreat on DEI along with tariff uncertainty.
We’re not satisfied with current performance and know we have opportunities to deliver faster progress on our roadmap for growth,” Target CEO Brian Cornell said in May.
The boycott comes as Americans have been spending less money on fast food. McDonald’s announced in May that its U.S. sales are down 3.6% in the first quarter year-over-year. The fast food chain’s global sales are down 1%.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinki said the company’s sales with lower-income Americans dropped by “double digits” with sales among middle-income American consumers having dropped nearly as much at a May earnings call.
Neither The People’s Union nor McDonald’s responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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