McDonald’s to suffer massive boycott from customers | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Over the past year, McDonald’s (MCD) has struggled to resonate with consumers after facing backlash for dramatically hiking its menu prices during inflation. To add fuel to the fire, it also suffered a temporary E. coli outbreak in a few of its restaurant locations in October, further scaring away customers.

Amid these challenges, McDonald’s sales have declined over the past few financial quarters, despite its efforts to win back customers with menu changes and deals, and the trend continued during the first few months of this year.

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McDonald’s first-quarter earnings report for 2025 revealed that its U.S. comparable sales decreased by 3.6% year-over-year. This contributed to the company facing a 3% year-over-year decline in its operating income, which is its profit after paying operating expenses.

Also, according to recent data from Placer.ai, the number of customers that visited McDonald’s stores during the quarter fell by 2.6%.

During an earnings call on May 1, McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said that the “impact of inflation and heightened anxiety about the economic outlook” impacted sales during the quarter.

“We entered 2025 knowing that it would be a challenging time for the QSR industry due to macroeconomic uncertainty and pressures weighing on the consumer,” said Kempczinski. “During the first quarter, geopolitical tensions added to the economic uncertainty and dampened consumer sentiment more than we expected.”

McDonald’s faces a huge customer boycott.

Image Source&colon; Chip East/Bloomberg via Getty Image

McDonald’s faces another major threat

As McDonald’s struggles to attract customers to its restaurants, it has another major problem on its hands that threatens to impact sales.

Between June 24 and June 30, the fast-food chain will face a major boycott from customers, which The People’s Union USA is organizing. The group previously organized boycotts of Amazon, Walmart, and Target earlier this year.

In a recent Instagram post, The People’s Union USA founder John Schwarz said that the group is calling for a boycott of McDonald’s for five reasons. First, he alleges the fast-food chain pays “less in taxes than the people serving their food.”

“McDonald’s benefits from loopholes and offshore tax havens, allowing them to pay a fraction of what they should,” he wrote in the post. “Meanwhile, their minimum wage employees pay more in effective taxes than the billion-dollar corporation they work for.”

Second, he claims McDonald’s is “one of the worst offenders of price gouging” as it has “dramatically raised prices in the last few years,” despite raking in record profits.

Third, Schwarz claims McDonald’s “has a long history of anti-union tactics, silencing employees, and avoiding accountability.”

“They use franchise loopholes to dodge direct responsibility while lobbying against higher wages and benefits,” wrote Schwarz.

Fourth, he alleges that McDonald’s exploits “global supply chains and environmental loopholes” as its supply chain is connected to “deforestation, poor labor conditions, and unsustainable agricultural practices.”

Fifth, he said McDonald’s likes to “perform DEI for the cameras but fund the opposite.”

“While McDonald’s runs DEI-focused ads, their political donations and lobbying often support candidates and legislation that undermine equity, labor rights, and marginalized communities,” he wrote.

McDonald’s is one of many companies to face boycotts this year

The People’s Union USA has been organizing “economic blackouts” of large corporations since February. So far, it has organized specific weeklong boycotts aimed at Amazon, Walmart, General Mills, and Target. Starbucks, Home Depot, and Lowe’s are next on its list.

According to the group’s website, it aims to “expose corruption and exploitation” and “hold corporations accountable” through these boycotts.

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“We’re building a people-powered force that’s not just pushing back, but preparing to take power back from the corporations, the billionaire class, and the political parasites that have been feeding off our work, our wages, and our rights for far too long,” said The People’s Union USA on its website.

Amid heightened political tensions, more consumers nationwide are opting to protest with their wallets. According to a recent survey from CLYDE/Ipsos, 53% of Americans said that if a company takes a stand on an issue they disagree with, they are less likely to buy their products or use their services.