Ethical Shopping Campaign Action Playbook

Use When

Chain owners fund non-transparent political activities.

Company profits from preferential tax abatements to donors.

Chain owners sponsor regime propaganda/astroturf outlets.

1
Form a coalition of stakeholders to audit corporate political spending and contracts using verifiable data.
2
Write a formal letter demanding fiscal transparency, an end to partisan funding, and clear reform timelines.
3
Create a "brand scorecard" and a list of alternative providers to facilitate consumer shifts.
4
Launch a digital pledge platform and coordinate "No-Buy" periods to prove collective economic power.
5
Ask participants to share redacted receipts or stories showing why they redirected their spending.
6
Perform lawful leafleting at storefronts and engage corporate sponsors to expand the intervention’s impact.
7
Keep a public dashboard tracking corporate disclosures, policy adjustments, and official brand statements.
8
Set verified benchmarks for corporations to meet before participants agree to resume their patronage.

Montgomery, USA, 1955–56, bus boycott pressured desegregation policy.
Global, 1980s, anti-apartheid consumer boycotts isolated regime-aligned firms.
USA, 2016–2020, coordinated brand boycotts led companies to change ad placements and disclosure practices.

Publish a brand scorecard and “switch list,” steering shoppers to verified alternatives.
Coordinate “No-Buy Weekends,” posting receipts that show diverted spending to local co-ops.
Influencers share one-minute “Why I switched” videos with QR codes to evidence and demand letters.

Individual

Yes

1 core team (research, legal, comms) coordinating thousands of consumers plus local retailers willing to be listed as switches.

Use of Action Playbook educational materials must adhere with Unruled Masses’ Terms of Service.

Stay Nonviolent. Coordinate Strategically. Take Back Your Power.