In late February 2025, a month after U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term in office, claims spread online that a day of "economic blackout" was set to happen on Feb. 28, 2025. On social media, posts multiplied calling users not to buy anything from major corporations that day, with some claiming that Boston College history professor Heather Cox Richardson was leading the effort. Further, several Snopes readers emailed memes about the event, inquiring about it and Cox Richardson's involvement:
(screen capture)
The meme read:
1st COLLECTIVE ACTION
Historian Heather Cox Richardson
ECONOMIC BLACKOUT - 24 Hours
Friday, FEBRUARY 28, 12 AM - 11:59 PM
families friends acquaintances
TURN OFF the ECONOMY
Show who really holds the power = US.WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- Buy ONLY essentials/absolute necessities (Food, Medicine, Emergency Supplies). But the goal is - buy NOTHING.
- If you must spend, ONLY support small, local businesses.SPREAD this MESSAGE:
email friends everywhere, post on social media, share, document,WHY? Corporations, banks only care about their sacred bottom line.
YOU CAN
Disrupt the economy for just ONE day
to send a powerful message.
If they fail to listen, the next blackout will be LONGER
MAKE HISTORY together
February 28th, 24-Hour Economic Black Out Begins!
Heather Cox RichardsonDO NOT
NO purchases in store, online.
NO Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy. Nowhere!
NO Fast Food, Gas, Major Retailers.
NO Credit or Debit Cards for non-essential spending.
We can do this TOGETHER!
"What do you know about an Economic Blackout (National Stop Buying Day) on February 28, 2025," one reader asked. "Is Heather Cox Richardson really involved with the Economic Blackout," asked another. Meanwhile, posts multiplied on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Bluesky and Reddit, spreading the word about the supposed event.
Indeed, the event was real. It started as the initiative of John Schwarz, a man born in Queens, New York. After Trump took office, Schwarz launched a movement he called The People's Union, and as a first action, he proposed that his followers not buy anything on Feb. 28, 2025. However, Cox Richardson was not a part of this effort.
On Jan. 29, 2025, Schwarz posted a video titled "Fixing Corporate Greed" on Instagram, in which he suggested that the problem with politics was that politicians were beholden to corporate interests, and in which he invited his followers to comment if they wanted to hear more about what they could do to fix this problem (archived):
This video received 99 likes.
In a Feb. 4, 2025, video (archived) Schwarz announced the launch of The People's Union and said that a website was in the works. The website was up as of this writing. He added that the plan was to "turn it all off" for one day. "We don't buy from any major corporations, we do not spend on anything we do not absolutely need," he said. "For one day, we remind them who really has the power." He also described this effort as "an excellent initial test for us."
The video went viral, receiving nearly 400,000 likes. In the comments of this video, people chimed in from other parts of the world. One follower commented that she was supporting him from Norway, another from the U.K., a third from Germany.
Later the same day, he announced in a separate video (archived) the date of the economic blackout: Feb. 28, 2025. Later, on Feb. 11, 2025, he posted an image on Instagram, inviting people outside the U.S. to join the blackout (archived):
As of this writing, the man had amassed 294,000 followers on Instagram and nearly 309,000 followers on TikTok, where he reposted every video.
By Feb. 16, 2025, he had announced more days of action in March and April, targeting specific corporations. That list grew, and on Feb. 20, 2025, he revealed a schedule that had added dates through July 2025.
Again, however, Cox Richardson was not involved. Indeed, she posted on Facebook on Feb. 19, 2025, distancing herself from the boycott and the movement: