Swedes call for boycott of US goods
Donald Trump's various plays, such as threatening countries with penalties, the desire to take over Greenland and calling Ukraine's president of « dictator » has brought pain in many parts of the world.
In neighboring Canada, many consumers have chosen to boycott US goods And in the province of Ontario, it has stopped selling US-made alcohol.
In Europe, sales of Tesla cars in January, which largely, largely connected to the founder Elon Musks Right -wing girls and closely together with the newly elected president.
Also in Sweden there is A growing opinion to abstain from US companies. In a fresh Novus survey presented by TV4 78 percent of Swedes respond that they can think of boycotting US goods.
The Danish Facebook group « Boykot Vare from USA » has 30,000 members at the time of writing and last week a Swedish equivalent was started where over 2,000 users have already joined. Administrator Jannike Kohinoor, who works as a teacher everyday, says that it was born out of anger over the development since Donald Trump's took office.
– For us who started the group, the frustration is about how a democracy that we in Sweden have been allies with so long can swing so crazy fast, she says.
But boycotting everything that comes from the United States is difficult. It is not least illustrated by the fact that the group houses on Facebook, which is owned by the American company Meta, whose founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg Open flirting with Donald Trump's policy.
– It was the first criticism we received – that it was the height of hypocrisy. It is clear that it is problematic, but it is about using platforms that work and everyone is on Facebook. The purpose gets the Helga funds, says Jannike Kohinoor.
Her hope with The group is to drive opinion and discuss what we consume – and what we choose to refrain.
– We want to get people to open their eyes to how incredibly dependent we are on American goods and technology. It is easy to refrain from buying Coca-Cola, but it can be more difficult to change the email platform or terminate all their streaming services at once, says Jannike Kohinoor.
Sofia Ulver, associate professor of marketing at Lund University, finds it difficult to assess how effective the boycott of American goods can be in the long run.
– It all depends on the scale on which the protests go up and how long they last, she says, pointing out that there are currently several different boycotts in parallel.
– You can imagine that there will be a lot to boycott in the end. But now we see another seriousness in the world, and I think there is a strong concern that extends beyond political values that usually drive boycotts. Therefore, this can become more sustainable and have a greater impact, Sofia Ulver continues.
A difficulty can be to clarify for consumers which goods are produced by companies with US owners.
– If you can simplify that knowledge through apps or clear recommendations, you can imagine that people can control their behavior. At the same time, we are habitual people and it can be difficult to break their designs, says Sofia Ulver.
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