MAGA Influencers Announce Boycott of Beloved Fast Food Chain

By: Julia Mehalko | Published: Aug 08, 2024

MAGA influencers on X, formerly known as Twitter, have called for a boycott of Dunkin’ Donuts. Many popular X users are calling on other conservatives to stop going to the popular fast food chain.

This announcement comes after the chief executive of Rumble, a video platform, alleged that the coffee chain refused to advertise with them because of their “ring wing culture.”

Rumble Joins X’s Fight Against Advertisers

This revelation comes as Rumble has joined alongside X and the social media company’s owner, Elon Musk, in suing a group of advertisers for not doing business on their sites.

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Musk announced that he would be suing advertisers this week, as he’s claimed that advertisers are refusing to do business on sites that contain right-wing content.

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Dunkin’ Donuts Advertising on Rumble

According to Rumble’s chief executive Chris Pavlovski, Dunkin’ Donuts has refused to place advertising on the video platform site.

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A close-up of a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup.

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Pavlovski took to X to explain that he reached out to the chain, as well as its parent company Inspire Brands, because Rumble’s audience “over indexes with coffee consumption.”

Dunkin’ Denies Advertising Deal

However, an advertising executive apparently denied the deal, as seen in a screenshot of a redacted email that Pavlovski posted on X.

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An exterior view of a Dunkin’ Donuts store.

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This email read, “To be honest, [redacted] I would be opposed to showing up on the current version of the platform—the right wing culture of the site is too polarizing from a brand suitability standpoint today.”

Why Dunkin’ Doesn’t Want to Advertise on Rumble

Dunkin’ Donuts seemingly doesn’t want to advertise on Rumble because of the many prominent right-wing pundits that have made a home on the video platform site.

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Many of these pundits — most notably Alex Jones — have been permanently banned from other mainstream social media sites because of their views and postings.

Rumble Hosts Alex Jones

Jones remains an incredibly controversial conservative pundit who has been barred from many other social media sites.

A portrait photo of Alex Jones.

Source: Michael Zimmermann/Wikimedia Commons

Jones is best known for being ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to the families of Sandy Hook victims after he claimed that their children had not been murdered. He said instead that they were “crisis actors.” These families subsequently took him to court for defamation.

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Other Controversial Rumble Pundits

Jones isn’t the only controversial conservative pundit on Rumble. Nick Fuentes is also hosted on the site.

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Fuentes has been accused of being a neo-Nazi, and he has made many antisemitic statements in the past, including spewing inaccurate information about what Jewish people went through during the Holocaust, as well as what would become of them in an upcoming “holy war.”

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Boycotting Dunkin’ Donuts

After Pavlovski posted this screenshot online and explained that Rumble was too far right for Dunkin’ Donuts, many MAGA influencers quickly decided to start boycotting the fast food chain.

Many people walking outside a Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin Robbins store.

Source: Kyle Berryman/Unsplash

As a result of this movement, the phrase BoycottDunkinDonuts was trending on X for many hours on Wednesday.

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MAGA Influencers Spread Boycott News

Many prominent MAGA influencers spread this boycott news, with some comparing it to the boycott they had on Bud Light.

A close-up of a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee mug.

Source: Aldrin Rachman Pradana/Unsplash

One account wrote, “They thought they could bully Rumble into dropping their biggest podcasts behind the scenes. I know this for a fact. It’s time to BudLight- @dunkindonuts.”

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Comparing Boycott to Bud Light

Another popular user on the site posted, “Time to give Dunkin’ Donuts the Bud Light treatment. Go Woke, Go Broke.”

A close-up of a tall beer glass in front of a green bush.

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Many of these posts were viewed hundreds of thousands of times, which helped the news of the boycott trend high on X in the United States.

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Conservatives Boycotted Bud Light Last Year

Last year, many MAGA influencers announced a boycott of Bud Light, which led to various conservatives around the country boycotting the popular beer.

A view of many beers, including Bud Light.

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This boycott stemmed from the revelation that the company sent personalized beer to TikTok personality Dylan Mulvaney, who is transgender.

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Boycott Impacted Bud Light’s Sales

This conservative boycott did end up impacting Bud Light’s overall sales, as the company saw a drop in sales in 2023.

A neon Bud Light sign seen in darkness.

Source: Rythik/Unsplash

The company also saw its parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, experience a decrease in its stock price.

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