Why are MAGA influencers boycotting Dunkin’?

The MAGA cult is boycotting again. This time it’s Dunkin’ Donuts. It seems whenever the slightest thing doesn’t go their way the answer is always a boycott. Sometimes these organized actions are successful and sometimes they fall flat on their faces.

Why are MAGA influencers boycotting Dunkin Donuts?

You may have heard of Rumble, the video-sharing website, home to down-and-out right-wing grifters like Russell Brand and notorious conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones. The site is known for giving voices to some of the most controversial figures on the web, those who have been thrown off other social media sites due to their toxic content. Anyway, this recent boycott traces back to Rumble and its CEO, Chris Pavlovski.

On Wednesday, August 7, Pavlovski shared the responses he received after contacting Inspire Brands and Dunkin’ Donuts regarding advertising on the social media site. To sum it up as best I can, both replies came back with a strong “no,” essentially telling Pavlovski that the content on Rumble is “too polarizing” from a brand perspective. To paraphrase, Rumble is too full of hateful rhetoric for them to even consider partnering with the site.

The boycott

While there’s certainly no denying the fact that the site has its fair share of vitriolic content, Pavlovski, and many others, don’t see it that way. His excuse is that “We don’t discriminate. All cultures are welcome on Rumble.” Now MAGA influencers such as Catturd are calling out Dunkin’ Donuts for its decision. There are also allegations that the company has avoided advertising on X too, which is tough for Elon Musk, who is currently at war with advertisers who are boycotting his site.

The whole thing has sort of snowballed and according to certain right-wing influencers on X, millions will be boycotting the chain, with thousands of posts made using the hashtag, #BoycottDunkinDonuts.

Will the boycott be a success?

It’s hard to tell if the planned boycott will have any effect on Dunkin’. More than anything, people online have been poking fun at the MAGA crowd and individuals like Catturd.

Others have vowed to order Dunkin’ specifically to spite those tantrum throwers.

It’s possible that it could backfire completely and result in even more sales for Dunkin’ Donuts. After all, people love it when companies stand by their principles, most of the time anyway. Take the Subway in Waunakee, Wisconsin, for example — last month a man-child was thrown out for his offensive T-shirt. When the clip was uploaded to TikTok, it actually resulted in people vowing to order more Subway.

On the other hand, boycotts like the Bud Light/Dylan Mulvaney fiasco last year can have a more noticeable impact. In this case, however, I’m going to bet the attempt from the MAGA cult won’t have much of an effect on Dunkin’. While the Bud Light drama appealed to all the bigots, I’m going to go out on a limb and say most Dunkin’ Donuts customers don’t know or really care about the company’s advertising partnerships.